Having said all that, I did have a really special moment this year. We were at church in the morning and the baby will not sleep in my arms anymore so grouchy him and I spent the morning in the foyer. During that morning I found myself sitting beside a friend who had come to Canada from China in January to study. This Sunday morning she was holding her beautiful two year old girl who had just now arrived from China after being separated by an ocean for over four months. As I was sitting with her my baby boy was fussing and would not drink him bottle. Then along came a friend from Nigeria who popped her sweet four month old boy on my lap and took my fussy baby and convinced him to drink his bottle. As we were all sitting on that bench in the foyer I had to smile. Three different nationalities from three different parts of the world. We all grew up in different countries, speaking different languages, with different upbringings. But here we sat with our kids scattered in each others arms. We were all moms. We were all raising our children differently with different cultures and languages but as we sat there and chatted it didn't matter. There is something about children that brings people together. Maybe it's their funny expressions, their clumsy movements, or their adorable little noises. I think maybe it's how they smile at anyone who smiles at them. They meet a new baby and they don't care if that baby is bottle fed or breast fed. They could care less what foods they were introduced to first. They don't care what brand of diaper the other baby is wearing and they certainly don't care if their outfit is from Walmart or The Gap. They don't care if that baby is long and skinny or short and chunky. They will pat that other baby's head and smile whether their hair is long and thick or shiny and bald. They will giggle together when one of them falls down and giggle even harder when the other one falls on top. They will sit and drool all over themselves and not care what the other one thinks. Maybe babies bring us together because they will smile at us just because we are there. They will love us regardless of what we look. They don't compare us to one another or judge us for our faults. I always thought I had some growing up to do but maybe I have some lessons to learn from the baby I assumed I was supposed to be teaching. Maybe, from time to time, this mommy needs to remember to see the world through her baby's eyes.
Showing posts with label Still Learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Still Learning. Show all posts
Monday, 12 May 2014
A Mother's Day Lesson
So, yesterday was Mother's Day. Year after year when I imagine Mother's Day I think it will be my day to kick back, relax, sit in my lawn chair and drink coffee all day. After six years you would think that I wouldn't let my imagination get the better of me. I am still a mom on Mother's Day. My husband does a wonderful job trying to take care of everything for me so that I can relax but there will still always be a little finger poking me in the face at 6:30AM asking me to open the present she made for me at school. And, there will still be the baby who will not fall asleep for his nap unless mommy is there to give him a final kiss before closing his eyes. And, there will always be that little boy who truly believes with all his heart that a mud pie and a handful of dirty weeds is a the best way to tell his mommy that he loves her. I guess I will relax when they are all teenagers and simply grunt at me to say "Happy Mother's Day".
Having said all that, I did have a really special moment this year. We were at church in the morning and the baby will not sleep in my arms anymore so grouchy him and I spent the morning in the foyer. During that morning I found myself sitting beside a friend who had come to Canada from China in January to study. This Sunday morning she was holding her beautiful two year old girl who had just now arrived from China after being separated by an ocean for over four months. As I was sitting with her my baby boy was fussing and would not drink him bottle. Then along came a friend from Nigeria who popped her sweet four month old boy on my lap and took my fussy baby and convinced him to drink his bottle. As we were all sitting on that bench in the foyer I had to smile. Three different nationalities from three different parts of the world. We all grew up in different countries, speaking different languages, with different upbringings. But here we sat with our kids scattered in each others arms. We were all moms. We were all raising our children differently with different cultures and languages but as we sat there and chatted it didn't matter. There is something about children that brings people together. Maybe it's their funny expressions, their clumsy movements, or their adorable little noises. I think maybe it's how they smile at anyone who smiles at them. They meet a new baby and they don't care if that baby is bottle fed or breast fed. They could care less what foods they were introduced to first. They don't care what brand of diaper the other baby is wearing and they certainly don't care if their outfit is from Walmart or The Gap. They don't care if that baby is long and skinny or short and chunky. They will pat that other baby's head and smile whether their hair is long and thick or shiny and bald. They will giggle together when one of them falls down and giggle even harder when the other one falls on top. They will sit and drool all over themselves and not care what the other one thinks. Maybe babies bring us together because they will smile at us just because we are there. They will love us regardless of what we look. They don't compare us to one another or judge us for our faults. I always thought I had some growing up to do but maybe I have some lessons to learn from the baby I assumed I was supposed to be teaching. Maybe, from time to time, this mommy needs to remember to see the world through her baby's eyes.
Having said all that, I did have a really special moment this year. We were at church in the morning and the baby will not sleep in my arms anymore so grouchy him and I spent the morning in the foyer. During that morning I found myself sitting beside a friend who had come to Canada from China in January to study. This Sunday morning she was holding her beautiful two year old girl who had just now arrived from China after being separated by an ocean for over four months. As I was sitting with her my baby boy was fussing and would not drink him bottle. Then along came a friend from Nigeria who popped her sweet four month old boy on my lap and took my fussy baby and convinced him to drink his bottle. As we were all sitting on that bench in the foyer I had to smile. Three different nationalities from three different parts of the world. We all grew up in different countries, speaking different languages, with different upbringings. But here we sat with our kids scattered in each others arms. We were all moms. We were all raising our children differently with different cultures and languages but as we sat there and chatted it didn't matter. There is something about children that brings people together. Maybe it's their funny expressions, their clumsy movements, or their adorable little noises. I think maybe it's how they smile at anyone who smiles at them. They meet a new baby and they don't care if that baby is bottle fed or breast fed. They could care less what foods they were introduced to first. They don't care what brand of diaper the other baby is wearing and they certainly don't care if their outfit is from Walmart or The Gap. They don't care if that baby is long and skinny or short and chunky. They will pat that other baby's head and smile whether their hair is long and thick or shiny and bald. They will giggle together when one of them falls down and giggle even harder when the other one falls on top. They will sit and drool all over themselves and not care what the other one thinks. Maybe babies bring us together because they will smile at us just because we are there. They will love us regardless of what we look. They don't compare us to one another or judge us for our faults. I always thought I had some growing up to do but maybe I have some lessons to learn from the baby I assumed I was supposed to be teaching. Maybe, from time to time, this mommy needs to remember to see the world through her baby's eyes.
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
I am not the best mom :(
Over the last few weeks I have not been feeling like the best mom in the world..... yes, I do have some pretty amazing days where I think perhaps I may be the best mom in the world but then the next day arrives and I am deeply humbled by something that occurs. Whether it's one of my kids throwing themselves on the ground in a temper tantrum in public, or L teaching a smaller kid some of her bad habits, or L asking loudly "Is that a man or a woman?" in the grocery store, whatever it is, I never feel like a super mom for very long. Over the past few weeks L has been going through a "phase", as us mothers like to call it. She went from being a pretty good listener to not listening at all. Not only does she not listen, but she has learned the art of talking back. If you know me at all you will know that nothing gets me angrier than a kid talking back to me. Whether it happens in a classroom with someone elses kid or whether it happens at home with my own kid, it makes me livid. My first reaction is to put them promptly in their place however, this is usually not the best course of action with a small child. So, my approach with L has been to simply pick her up, place her in her bedroom and calmly tell her that if she cannot talk nicely and be a good listener then she cannot play with the rest of the family. This sometimes works and she stays in her room and comes out a while later calm and collected and begins listening pretty well. Other times, this results in a full out temper tantrum where I have to stand in the hallway holding her door shut for over half an hour. Sigh. In addition to all of this my sweet little boy is beginning to have moments where he is not so sweet. He has discovered temper tantrums..... hmmm, I wonder where he learned those? The nice thing is that he knows what he wants which is a pretty good quality to have and I'm hoping that once he has some words and is able to actually communicate through more then just gestures and screams then the temper may fizzle out a little. Hope.
We seem to be slowly emerging from this "phase" but even through it there have been many moments when I think, "Ok, maybe we are doing something right". When L sees a car accident she immediatley asks if she can pray for the people in the cars. When we are at the grocery store she often suggests that we should buy some extra to give to someone who doesn't have any food to eat. When she goes to the playgound and encounters another little girl she says, "Hi, my name is L. Do you want to play with me?" And then there is T. He is always ready for a giggle. If one of us starts laughing, he will join right in. When he climbs onto the dining room table without me seeing he grins from ear to ear when I find him. When he finally gets ahold of the computer mouse, after trying all day long, he smiles proudly and hands it back over to me without being asked.
So, maybe I'm not the world's best mom........ ok, I'll admit that I am definately not the world's best mom...... but I am trying to be the best mom I can be. Some days are great, some are awful. My kids know I am not perfect but they also know that I love them, that I am not afraid to say sorry when I mess up, and that I need God's help, grace, and mercy every single day. I got some wonderful advice from a book I read recently called Making Children Mind Without Loosing Yours by Kevin Leman. He talks about the importance of having real prayer time with your kids. He encourages parents to let their kids hear them ask God for help with their weaknesses. Every night L hears me pray, "God, help Mommy to know how to love and teach L and T. When I do things that are wrong help me to know how to make them right. Help me love them like you love do. Give Mommy wisdom and patience because I cannot be a good mommy without you. Amen."
I mean every word of that prayer.
We seem to be slowly emerging from this "phase" but even through it there have been many moments when I think, "Ok, maybe we are doing something right". When L sees a car accident she immediatley asks if she can pray for the people in the cars. When we are at the grocery store she often suggests that we should buy some extra to give to someone who doesn't have any food to eat. When she goes to the playgound and encounters another little girl she says, "Hi, my name is L. Do you want to play with me?" And then there is T. He is always ready for a giggle. If one of us starts laughing, he will join right in. When he climbs onto the dining room table without me seeing he grins from ear to ear when I find him. When he finally gets ahold of the computer mouse, after trying all day long, he smiles proudly and hands it back over to me without being asked.
So, maybe I'm not the world's best mom........ ok, I'll admit that I am definately not the world's best mom...... but I am trying to be the best mom I can be. Some days are great, some are awful. My kids know I am not perfect but they also know that I love them, that I am not afraid to say sorry when I mess up, and that I need God's help, grace, and mercy every single day. I got some wonderful advice from a book I read recently called Making Children Mind Without Loosing Yours by Kevin Leman. He talks about the importance of having real prayer time with your kids. He encourages parents to let their kids hear them ask God for help with their weaknesses. Every night L hears me pray, "God, help Mommy to know how to love and teach L and T. When I do things that are wrong help me to know how to make them right. Help me love them like you love do. Give Mommy wisdom and patience because I cannot be a good mommy without you. Amen."
I mean every word of that prayer.
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
Stomach Flu Perspective
Well, I officially hate having the stomach flu. The crazy thing is that while I was in the midst of it, I couldn't decide if I would rather have the stomach flu or be going through labor. It was a bad flu. But something interesting happened in the midst of this flu. I somehow managed to gain some perspective. Usually when I have the flu I cry the entire time. Seriously, I do. I hate throwing up. But this time, as I had my head in my semi-clean toilet, I realized that it was nice be able to have somewhere to throw up into that I can flush and away it goes. I also have a nice comfy bed that I can lay in between episodes. I also have air conditioning so that I don't have to battle 37 degree weather while I'm sick. I have clean water to sip and access to all the gingerale I could possibly need. In addition to all of this, I have my mom nearby. She came over first thing in the morning to watch my kids so that I could get well. Yep, I am blessed. Too bad it took a stomach flu to make me see that.
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