Emelia loves to swing. She would swing for an hour if I would push that long. Sometimes I even go to a playground that has no swings so she will try new things. The playground nearest our house has toddler swings which means no matter how far away we park the stroller/wagon/whatever she will walk right past every other slide/jungle gym/rock wall and head straight for the swings. Then I ask her if she wants to swing and she says "oh okay," like it was my idea.
The look on her face when I pull back the swing and let go is magical. She screams "weeeeee" and just lights up. Often as I watch her I think about how I wish I could experience that kind of joy but then today I realized I do... every time she gets on a swing.
In the routine of cooking dinners and scrubbing toilets I sometimes lose sight of the amazing blessing that I have in being able to be with her and watch her grow and play and learn new words. I take for granted the joy that watching her swing brings to me. Because I am human I miss working sometimes and I miss having colleagues and a sense of worth and importance but I know that I still have worth and importance just a different kind. I wish I could remember that all the time and be able to be fulfilled each day the way I am today. Alas, it is always a struggle but today I will celebrate a day off from that battle and I may even get on a swing myself.
2 comments:
I actually took the twins down to their school last night so I could run the track while they rode their scooters and used the swings. When I was done running I swung with them and it was pure joy! That's a great way to describe it. A few weekends ago we spent the longest day of the year swigning while watching the sunset. Kids are such a gift and so is getting to spend that type of quality time with them...
Enjoy the 4th, E!!!
E, thanks for sharing this. I love your honesty. I'm learning so much from my parent-friends about this daunting but awesome task of raising children. I will make you feel really important if God one day decides that Ryan and I should be parents...because I will call you all the time and ask you a bazillion questions. You will want me to leave you alone, or at the very least, you'll want to start charging me for using you as a mommy consultant. Are there big bucks to be had in that area??
You're a huge blessing to Emelia, and to Jeff. I'm happy to remind you of that.
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