This morning I was out running errands with Sky and Micah when we ran into an older mom-friend. She was in the middle of a busy work day. “What are you all up to?” she asked. “We’re heading to the park,” I told her. “Oh I miss those days!” she said. I wasn’t really looking forward to an hour at the park. But fifteen minutes later as I sat in the shade while Sky and Micah climbed on the playground, I realized that hey, this is nice.
I’ve been very tired lately. I’m 30 thirty weeks pregnant and reaching the point where I don’t sleep well anymore. I have varicose veins in my legs and my back hurts. There are days when I’m so worn out from running after Sky and Micah I wonder how I’ll ever manage to keep up with a newborn in my arms. So it’s more important than ever for me to pay attention to the good things about life with little ones.
On Monday Adam, Micah and I went to Sky’s preschool to watch her do gymnastics, her very first program ever. It was awesome. And yes, I was videotaping and taking pictures the entire time.
All the kids sat in a line on their little mats and followed their teacher’s instructions. Touch your toes! Twist your arms like a helicopter! Reach for the stars! Next it was, get up and do your jumping jacks! Sky and her best friend Marie hopped to their feet and began jumping and flailing their arms at top speed, huge smiles on their faces. Then they got in line and did forward rolls, backward rolls, and cartwheels with the help of their teacher. They bounced on a mini-trampoline and then catapulted their way onto the mat.
And they had a blast! Did it matter that their “cartwheels” were more like barrel rolls across the mat? No. Did they pay any attention to the way the older kids turned graceful round-offs? No. They were too busy following their teacher’s instructions and having fun.
Later Adam and I talked about how 3 year olds are not self-conscious. This can be embarrassing, like when Sky gets a runny nose and uses her shirt as a tissue. But overall, it’s great.
At what point do kids look in the mirror and decide they see things they don’t like? When do kids realize that other kids are faster or taller or smarter than they are and begin to feel funny about it? I’m still a sort-of new parent, so I’m not sure. All I know is that at 3 years old and 22 months, Sky and Micah are mainly concerned with one thing—enjoying themselves.
Adam and I can both be a bit too serious sometimes. A bit too concerned about the bills, the house, the past, the future, work, our schedule, and oh yeah, what people think of us. Maybe that’s why God keeps reminding me to stop and pay attention to the beauty of who our kids are today, at age 3 and age 1. I guess parenting is not just about shaping and teaching, correcting and disciplining. It’s about learning too.
Linnea, I remember you wobbling across a balance beam in a park district gymnastics class at age 4, and then doing it again with perfection on the balance beam of your high school gymnastics team. It was always a delight watching you perform, and now you’re finding that same delight in watching your own little gymnast perform. Fabulous!
You were always so supportive, even when I did nothing but fall off! =)
All so true Linnea! It is a delight to see the world through the eyes of a child who is unhindered by what they think others think of them. I believe it is the purest form of who they were created to be, and feeling the freedom to express it. We learn alot about ourselves as we walk in each new stage of parenting. We also learn alot about the parent/child relationship between our heavenly Father with us which we can then teach our little ones. You have been blessed with much wisdom, discernment and grace at an early stage of parenting, which is transparent beyond your tiredness. Raising children can be a blur most of the time. Your moment in the park is one of many memory makers where the Lord is giving you time to relax, breathe and enjoy the beauty or fun of “just being instead of doing”.
It is kind of a blur sometimes! Thanks for your kind words.