Children….there is so much to learn from them and their innate wisdom. Now I do not always see them as wise but even in their resistance, failure to listen, toy throwing, or whatever it is…they show me clearly all my buttons. The situations that arise or interactions that don’t go as I planned and I get emotionally hooked. Trying to get everyone to lunch and someone stomps their foot and refuses to move…I can be so impatient and I hate having it pointed out by a toddler…very humbling….or annoying. ☺ Making lunch only to be told “No, no chicken”…where is the gratitude? Where are my head, heart, and emotions that I do anything with the expectation of gratitude? Or that I act loving with the condition that love will be returned to me, and the way I want it…of course. Temper tantrums, crying, I can be very intolerant.
Everything is new to a child…new situations, new people, new toys, so many things to discover, so many situations to experience, and they are eager to greet each day, hungry to learn. That eagerness to experience each day fully can be lost. I hear people describe their day as part of the “daily grind”…that doesn’t sound fun and exciting. Who is eager for that? That makes each day feel like a chore rather than a gift.
Most mornings when I wake up I check the time and then groan if it’s around 6:00…time to get up. One of my first thoughts is usually that I’m tired…that isn’t very seizing the dayish at all. I mentally go through the list of 20 things I need to accomplish in this day and shake my head because it cannot be done. I feel defeated and I have not even gotten out of bed. I want every day to be Saturday or Sunday so I can just do, or not do, as I please…apparently I really want to be a Queen…my “people” would take care of all the daily mundane things because I could not be bothered. I wonder though if I would sincerely enjoy that…not participating fully in my life…not being all in for everything.
So I am starting my day differently…re-training myself to develop a new habit. When I wake up, I still check the time, but then I say to myself, “What do I get to do today?” That shift from drudgery to discovery changes my mindset each day. I get to spend my day with toddlers! Yes there are diapers, tantrums, biting, hitting, throwing toys, but there is also wonder, joy, love, laughter, discovery, and lots of play. What more could I ask for in a day?
Kai Raines 