I See You

He doesn’t always want his picture taken, but he’ll allow me to take them — sometimes. Once he was talking to me, and I just had to snap a photo of the moment. Here he was, my little boy in his jammies talking on the couch to me about whatever was on his mind at the time. I just had to snap the picture. Maybe I wanted to share the picture with my sister? I don’t remember. But he stopped right there and then and said, “Why did you do that?”

Something that I liked about his seriously asked question, was how grown up he sounded. I try to capture the moments. Will I have a little one again? Maybe not. Maybe I’ll need to wait for grandchildren. No doubt I will enjoy all the little ones God has put in my life along the way too: Friends’ children, neighbor children who play with my son, nieces and nephews — they are all so precious to me! But even on the toughest days, no one pulls at my heart quite like my own boy. No one (other than my husband) would be as protective of him than I am! I just LOVE him! And that’s how God made it to be. A mother’s heart.

So, I told you about how he’s not into always getting his picture taken. But there’s another thing about him: he’s at that age where he thinks it’s funny to do something that isn’t exactly funny. You know what I mean? I was at Walmart one day, when I saw a little girl acting just like this — that is, doing little things to annoy her mom just-a-bit — and I knew that they had to be the same age. Turns out, I was right! The children do these things probably because they are learning that they can develop a funny scenario and so they try to make us laugh. Or maybe they themselves can get a laugh out of the situation. Either way, they are communicating, trying out humor, and getting parental attention in a fun way.

One day, I was taking a walk with my boy. I decided, as we went that I wanted a picture of the branch of the spruce tree that I was passing by. So I stopped to try and get the best angle. To my delight, my son tried to “trick” me and photo bombed the picture. And I didn’t miss a beat. I just went right along and took the picture of this wintry branch and let my son think that he was photo bombing the picture, when in fact, I was sure to frame it all nicely so that he looked good in it! If I had asked him to do this, it would never have gone so well!

But you see, a mother knows her child. She studies him without knowing she is doing it. It’s because she loves him so much.

And the reverse is true. Our children study us. I know this is so when I hear him saying things just the same way I say them, or his daddy says them. He’s always learning from us. Sometimes, especially when I’m driving alone or lying quietly in my bed, I find myself thinking that I should be doing certain things better than I have been, as a parent. And then I have a new day to at least try. But that next day isn’t promised, so now is always the best time to tell him that thing I wanted him to know, or spend more time doing this or that with him. Or checking my own personal priorities and attitudes to help him see a good example to follow.

I love this kid. That way that I’m sure you love your children too, dear mothers and fathers. Let’s keep doing our work of raising them with love, the best we can. I recently read this Japanese proverb: Fall down seven times; stand up eight. Capture the moments in your heart and think what it is that you most want them to know from you. And share those treasures with them.