Meditations on Life and Parenting
“Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
Actually – can you burst my bubble? It’s kinda cool looking?
My Mother’s Day gifts…and the rose is nice too. 🙂
We haven’t outgrown backyard fun — but we have outgrown some of the toys.
Do you think the ducks and goslings celebrated Mother’s Day too?
I’m a little unclear on the current decoration theme for the neighborhood skeleton. Spring?
“Life doesn’t come with a manual. It comes with a mother.” – unknown
It seems like when I see a headline on the news relating to something that happened to a mom, it starts with something like, “Mom of two is ____” (fill in the blank with missing, found guilty, bitten by a dog and so on). She also might be a real estate agent, banker, engineer or some other profession but it seems in my non-scientific survey, that they always lead with her parental status.
Which I take to be evidence of the importance of mother figures. This post is a both a celebration of moms and also a chance for me, as a somewhat new-ish mom, to learn what is the essential stuff of motherhood.
If you feel comfortable, please tell me in the comments what was the most important lesson your mom or a mother figure taught you and/or if you are a mom, what is the primary thing you want your kids to get or learn from you. I’ll compile a list and publish it.
Here’s my start for the list:
My mom taught me to speak and write. Her precision with language is extraordinary so just by listening to her and having her guidance, I learned a great deal about speaking English properly. It’s only in later years that I’ve realized that my mom only speaks what she believes to be true, which is another dimension of her gift to not only be precise in how she says something but also in what she says.
As for being a mom: I observe my kids eat better, communicate more clearly and follow the rules more closely when they are with people other than me. I sometimes, just for an instant, wish they would want to step it up and impress me. Then I remember what an honor it is to hold their fragile conception of love like a baby chick in my hand. When they are grown and have learned to behave and handle themselves well, I hope I’ve created a space in each of them that knows you don’t have to perform to be loved.
(featured photo is of my mom, my son and me)
(quote comes from a post on Philosophy through Photographs blog)
“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy.’ They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.” – John Lennon
On a sunny evening this past week I had just put my toddler to bed and my 5 ½ year old daughter was just starting a popsicle while watching her show before bedtime when we heard the ice cream truck outside. She put down the popsicle, started bargaining with me about whether she could get something from the truck all the while moving towards the door. But by the time we’d gotten our shoes and my wallet and gone outside, it was just turning the corner about 100 yards away. It didn’t take her long to realize that we were too late. She sighed, took a deep inhale, then brightened up and said, “It’s okay. Basically, I have a good life.”
And that was what I wanted for Mother’s Day. Healthy kids that are resilient through the ups and downs in life and can express themselves. Really it’s what I want to be too. In the moment before she said it, I couldn’t have defined it as succinctly. But as is often the case with perfect gifts, once I got it, I understood it was exactly what I needed.
Happy Mother’s Day Everyone!
Surprised By Joy 