I was recently perusing the internet on my phone, waiting in the carpool line to pick up my son and feeling bogged down in the everyday stresses of motherhood, when I stumbled across this passage from William Martin’s “Parent’s Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents” — and it really got me thinking.
In this fast-paced, instant-gratification, technology-induced, competitive world we now live in, have we lost sight of what is vital to our children’s emotional success? With our overscheduled babies and test-ridden school system, with the constant need to be the best, to wear the newest fashion, to show worth through material items, have we lost sense of the innate wonder children come into this world with?
With “mompetition” in full force and the Facebook facade creating added pressure, why can’t we stop, recognize what we have, and just appreciate it? The simple joy a child gets from splashing in the water, the security they feel from mom or dad’s arms wrapped around them, the pleasure as they blow the seeds off a dandelion. These are the important things, these are the moments we should be focusing on, and these are the moments we may be missing.
As the weather finally warms up and we are able to spend more time outside, take advantage of disconnecting from technology and rediscover the beauty around you. Speak to your children about the feeling of your toes sinking deep into the sand as the cool ocean water laps over them. Turn the air conditioning off and open the windows. Indulge their senses in the smell of fresh-cut grass. Lay staring aimlessly at the sky and clouds with your little ones. Taste the abundance of sweetness that comes from a perfectly ripe piece of fruit. Go outside in the rain and find the bliss of simply stomping in puddles. Show them the world is bigger than them. Lead them to think of others.
Take a breath, take a moment, relish in this, teach your children to rediscover the wonder they have within. These are the moments they will remember, and these are the moments that bring the world alive. Reawaken their senses and teach them that the ordinary really is quite extraordinary.
