Oh How My Heart Beats Wild
Today I understood some things about motherhood that I haven’t connected with before. I’m not actually a mother (I guess I kind of am, but I haven’t ever met either of my children because they miscarried while I was pregnant). But, while being a nanny has it’s boring days, it also has it’s wonderful special days as well.
Today Alex and I came to my house where we made pudding pops and chicken soup, played with Henson, taped fake butterflies around the house for the cat to play with, read from Judy Moody Saves the World, watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, took Henson for a walk on an expedition to find a mail box in Japan Town, gave Henson and Five baths, painted our fingernails and toenails (and Henson’s toenails)…and so on. There is something so special about just hanging out with little people and doing things together. And talking about things. We had quite the discussion about mean people, the chicken/egg dilemma, what it means to be crazy, why people make Art, caring for animals, not liking school, not liking to read…that kind of stuff. Important stuff. It makes me feel reflective and wonderful and challenged.
The Rugrats in Paris movie (the Rugrats are now my second favorite cartoon, next to The Simpsons) recites a parenting poem that says:
Oh, how my heart beats wild
Every time I hold my child…
I guess that’s true of me, except I would say, “Every time I hold a child.” I want to be a mother, yes, in due time. But I think there is something about me, about the way that I’m made, that I just love kids. I love their spirit. Their creativity. Their curiosity. That’s why I wanted to be a teacher…I didn’t want to work completely with adults, they would get on my nerves after awhile (no offense to all of the adults reading this). I love to challenge kids. I love to be there consistently for them (which is why it killed me to stop coaching the speech team in MN). I love to help them develop discipline and patience. I just love them in general. I know, everyone “loves” kids, but not everyone loves to be around them almost all the time. I used to choose to hang out with my neighbor kids over my friends in school like once a week because we always had a blast together (they still haven’t figured out my all time best hide-and-seek hiding place — Ha!).
So…I guess that’s it. I guess I just wanted to express this part of myself since I seem to have some kind of words to go with the feeling today. I’d love to hear about your passions. Click on the comments button below (don’t be shy! Even if I don’t know you!) and just share something about yourself that you feel like you’re alive to do. Something you feel like you were made for. You don’t have to go all in depth or be mushy about it or anything, it’s just cool to see what burdens God places on peoples’ hearts, how he develops them, and how he blesses us repeatedly through them.