It dawned on me today amid the tasks of mothering that I get to spend my days surrounded by my very favorite smiles. Not only am I surrounded by them, but I am the recipient of them. My children smile at me and for me and at times because of me. I don't want to ramble on about something that is cliche and well, "DUH", but today something truly set into my bones. I spend way to much time doing other things, putting my energy and effort into that which is meaningless. Yep, the house still needs cleaned and sure it would be great to actually watch the news from start to finish but there is nothing that should interfere with the moments which invite my children to share their sweet smiles and lives with me.
Moose is a piddeler. I am pretty sure that I ask him to hurry up at least ten times a day. Some of these instructions are necessary, for example, today when I needed him to hop into his seat in our van so that I could get his baby brother out of the cold snowy air. Instead of getting into his seat he was picking up dog hair off of the van floor one by one and commenting that perhaps I should get a new car....
However, the other nine times I am pretty darn sure are not necessary. They are me hurrying him along for no real reason. At the time I think it is a real reason. I rush him so that I can get to the dishes or check my email. Tomorrow, I am going to be intentional about only hurrying my son along when truly needed. I am going to sit on the floor as he gets dressed in the morning and laugh as he entertains me by dancing around with his shirt on his head. Because the truth is, I do think it is funny and I don't really understand why I ever started rushing him through his morning routine as if we were late for some event. He gets dressed great, even with the few moments of dancing and flailing around. In fact, I just might do this myself and see what he does. Perhaps, it will bring a smile to his face.
And, I am not going to rush our prayer time together. Yep~ it is true that he often goes on and on thanking God for toilet paper, eye lashes, and the lady at Walgreens simply to push back his bedtime. I know this. I was a kid once. But, here is the thing. God is good. And prayer is good. And, teaching Moose these things is far more significant than whatever I have to do after he is in bed. If needed we can simply start prayer time earlier that way we have the time for praying about anything and everything crosses his heart.
Moose works for smiles from his little brother. He labors for them and then cherishes each one. He celebrates when his brother smiles at him. As we all do. Parenting gets more complex as our children grown and their tends to be this idea that as our kids get bigger they need us less. But, today was a reminder for me that no matter how old my children grow they need to know that their smile is something that I celebrate and cherish. Their smile, a genuine expression of joy in their spirits, is something I will set aside meaningless things for.
I adore my children. I adore this time I have at home with them. Their smiles invite me to see outside of myself and be a part of something great. I accept that invitation with nothing less than a smile.
Jesus, thank you for our messy house and long bedtime prayers. Thank you for cars on the kitchen floor and a pile of laundry. Thank you for nap time and wake time and late night nursing, for snuggles and hugs and wresting matches. Thank you for a thousand questions a day and that I am the one that gets to answer to the name, "Mommy." Thank you for my children, the noise and the unpredictable. Please help me to not take any of this for granted and to stop hurrying through my days.
