Soak It Up

The other day I made a comment to a friend of mine who is a new dad. "Soak it up!" I told him. "It goes by really fast." And so it does. Now that my baby is 5 years old and I know that I will not be having any more children, I think I can confidently look back and say that I did my best to just "drink in" the beauty of each of their lightning-fast infanthoods and toddlerhoods. I knew it was passing quickly at the time, but am I still absorbing each moment of precious life as I should?

Since the school year is coming to an end, I was looking through all the papers, artwork, and worksheets that my daughter has done throughout kindergarten. I will take the best of the best and put them into a scrapbook for her to keep forever. I had had the great intention to do this all year, but as I went through these papers, a gnawing question was forming in my mind. Why were there so many papers in this pile that I did not remember seeing? Had I not filed them myself? One especially sweet one pulled on my heartstrings and brought tears to my eyes. It was an assignment where my innocent, little 5-year-old daughter was to pick her "hero"--the person she thought most deserved to be honored on a stamp. She had picked me. Obviously, she had not come home raving about this, or I would have remembered it. To the contrary, she had brought it quietly home in her folder, which I had emptied, merely glancing at the contents before filing everything. I was probably stressed out and trying to get dinner on the table.

I sat there looking at that paper. I may have had dinner to cook, business to think about, and appointments to remember, but a large portion of my daughter's day had been spent thinking of me and profiling me in a piece of artwork. Were she and her little friends giggling as they colored? Were they intently meditating on how much they admired and loved the person on their stamps as they colored, heads bent in concentration over their desks? There was no date on this paper, so I have no idea how long it has gone without the recognition it deserves. It leaves me with a sobering thought. How is she perceiving what appears to be a lack of appreciation on my part? What about when I want her to appreciate and acknowledge the love I express? Her teenage years are right around the corner!

My daughter's bright Crayola rendition of me on a stamp is sitting here by my desk. As soon as I stand up from my desk here, I am going to find my daughter, who is somewhere in the house playing--probably talking to her dolls and stuffed animals. I am going to hug her and tell her how much I appreciate her loving me the way she does and making me a "hero" on a stamp for a day. I am going to spend a priceless moment just soaking up the radiant love that only a 5-year-old little girl can give. You moms (and dads), go hug your babies! Soak it up! It goes by fast!

A Mother's Journal

Livin N Writin About It

Five In A Row ~ The "Heart" of our Homeschool:

Art of the Month:
"Rowing"

Quotations

"A rich child often sits in a poor mother's lap."
Danish proverb

"I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
I do and I understand."
Chinese proverb

Give a little love to a child, and you get a great deal back.
John Ruskin (1819-1900)

A child is fed with milk and praise.
(1764-1847)

Snuggle Up With Your Babies and Read!