SUPERSIZE THE ORDINARY
On a rainy day, I took my two-year-old son to the restaurant with the golden arches thinking that he would love to go down the big slides. He did…one time…then stopped to take a bite of a French fry.
I asked him, “Do you want to go down the slides again?”
“No,” he replied emphatically. “All done!”
He began to gobble down a few more fries.
Having trouble believing that a child would not want to play in Playland, I asked him again, “Do you want to go down the slides?”
“NO,” he said, “ALL DONE!”
He began to run around in circles yelling, “Circle! Circle!” His blond curls bobbed up and down
with a toothy smile stretched across his face as he continued to run around, over and over again.
Amused, I watched my son closely. “This is why I love being a mom,” I thought. “What a joy it is to watch this little person take such delight in something so simple.”
It was in that instance where I was reminded that it is not in the jungle gyms of life, but in the daily cycles of being, where the greatest joys are found. In a culture that teaches that a child needs Disney Land, a dance class and a soccer team at age three to find satisfaction, my child reminded me that what he needs most is the space to be a child.
My call as a mother of a young child is to allow him the freedom to run, spin, laugh, dance, chase a bug, watch the rain and paint a mural. My job is to create the margins in my life to hold him, talk to him, delight in him, mend an ouchy, pour a glass of milk, and share the awesome wonders of the God.
Sometimes, McDonalds DOES have its place. It is good to get out of the house, change the scene, and expose our children gradually to the Playlands of life. Yet, instead of always ordering the Big Macs, we are called to “supersize the ordinary”. By consciously choosing not to focus on the highs of life, but instead on the simple moments where God's grace is present, we as mothers choose a love for our families that is extraordinary indeed.
"(God gives) prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young." Proverbs 1:4
"In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in HIs holy name." Psalm 22:9
Copyright Nikki Schaefer, 2005
Published by The Journal of API (Attachment Parenting International)
COPYRIGHT 2013 - HEART OF A CHILD MINISTRIES - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
On a rainy day, I took my two-year-old son to the restaurant with the golden arches thinking that he would love to go down the big slides. He did…one time…then stopped to take a bite of a French fry.
I asked him, “Do you want to go down the slides again?”
“No,” he replied emphatically. “All done!”
He began to gobble down a few more fries.
Having trouble believing that a child would not want to play in Playland, I asked him again, “Do you want to go down the slides?”
“NO,” he said, “ALL DONE!”
He began to run around in circles yelling, “Circle! Circle!” His blond curls bobbed up and down
with a toothy smile stretched across his face as he continued to run around, over and over again.
Amused, I watched my son closely. “This is why I love being a mom,” I thought. “What a joy it is to watch this little person take such delight in something so simple.”
It was in that instance where I was reminded that it is not in the jungle gyms of life, but in the daily cycles of being, where the greatest joys are found. In a culture that teaches that a child needs Disney Land, a dance class and a soccer team at age three to find satisfaction, my child reminded me that what he needs most is the space to be a child.
My call as a mother of a young child is to allow him the freedom to run, spin, laugh, dance, chase a bug, watch the rain and paint a mural. My job is to create the margins in my life to hold him, talk to him, delight in him, mend an ouchy, pour a glass of milk, and share the awesome wonders of the God.
Sometimes, McDonalds DOES have its place. It is good to get out of the house, change the scene, and expose our children gradually to the Playlands of life. Yet, instead of always ordering the Big Macs, we are called to “supersize the ordinary”. By consciously choosing not to focus on the highs of life, but instead on the simple moments where God's grace is present, we as mothers choose a love for our families that is extraordinary indeed.
"(God gives) prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young." Proverbs 1:4
"In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in HIs holy name." Psalm 22:9
Copyright Nikki Schaefer, 2005
Published by The Journal of API (Attachment Parenting International)
COPYRIGHT 2013 - HEART OF A CHILD MINISTRIES - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
An ordinary moment