Stephenie Freeman
When I was a kid, the simplest things in life gave me the most joy. I got fired up to check out a new book from the library and couldn’t wait to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings (that was the only day they were on.) I would get so excited to see what my parents brought me from a trip and getting a Coke from the drive-in was a rare treat. I laughed hysterically at burps and couldn’t wait to tie a balloon to my wrists as we watched a homecoming parade.
It’s no fun to grow up. As we do, we tend to let our excitement for the
smaller things in life diminish. Lately, I’ve watched my son get excited
about a lady bug landing on his arm, a Popsicle melting between his
fingers, or a special picture made out of side-walk chalk. These are all
of life’s simple delights that children relish and adults ignore.
Now it takes big things to stimulate us. We get all emotional about new
cars, houses, and diamonds, but that iron-on patch that our parents
brought us from the Grand Canyon just doesn't do it for us anymore.
Adults see the lady bug as a pest, the Popsicle as a sticky mess and a
side-walk chalk creation as no big deal. Our kids view them as new and
interesting experiences that made their day a little better.
The other day, running late for a soccer game, my boys and I were caught
by a train. My oldest played 20 Questions as the train loudly passed in
front of our car: “Where’s it going? What’s in the cars? Is that a cow?
Where they taking the cows? What’s the conductor’s name? What’s that
writing on it say? What’s graffiti?” Unwrapping my fingers from the
steering wheel long enough to rub my temples, I could feel my stress
level rising and my teeth clenching with each new question from my son.
I hated that train for making us later than we already were and was
seconds away from telling my child to, “Just be quiet!”
Instead, I took a deep breath. There was nothing I could do about the
train, and the soccer game was going to happen with our without us. So
as a mother, I made a decision to focus on the delight of the situation
instead of the stress. We started to count the number of train cars and
guess what color the caboose might be. Before we knew it, the train had
passed and we were on our way. Not only was the stress gone, but I
couldn’t help but smile as I watched my child through the rear-view
mirror wave bye-bye to the train. I had seen that train as total
annoyance; my child had seen it as something to enjoy.
Mothers enjoy the obvious things in life: a clean house, an empty
dishwasher, a sleeping child. How often do we look outside of our To-Do
lists for life’s enjoyment? Maybe the train stopped us long enough for
me to learn a valuable lesson from my child. He can’t wait to see what
color his Popsicle will be as he unwraps it and he squeals in delight
whenever he shows me his latest chalk drawing on our drive-way. Finding
the excitement about the little things of life, even your child’s
picture of a rainbow made out of side-walk chalk, might make your world
seem a little nicer. If not your whole world, well, at least your
driveway.
Previous Posts:
The Lies We
Parents Tell
Birthdays to
Remember
Can You Hang
Tinsel On A Recycling Bin?
To read more from Stephenie, visit her site!
Mama Wants More
A column for today's mother who has it all and still wants more
because you're a mother, a wife, a citizen, a consumer. You're
unappreciated, underpaid, and over qualified for wiping bottoms &
cleaning toilets. But this was your dream. This is what you always
wanted. you love your life, but you still want more . Me too.
