I really love the way that my kids view the world. Or to re-phrase, I love being a part of their world.
Especially when outside our living room, town and country, there are crazy, horrific things happening everywhere.
Sometimes I feel out of touch as I seem to find out about current events weeks after they happen, undermining the whole point of current.
But, most of the time I feel very privileged and appreciative to be immersed in a world that is only knee-high, fun and playful — especially after watching the news last night.
Life outside of the Treehouse channel is just downright depressing.
I am thankful for the fact that when I play my CD’s in the car, my daughter gets excited because she thinks the Black Lips are the Wiggles.
I am thankful when she tries to convince me for twenty minutes with a tirade of excuses (magic being her top choice) that the eggs she ate when she was two were in fact not baby chicks. (We have recently finished reading Charlotte’s Web and thus have become aware of the alarming truth that some cute animals are eaten.)
I am also thankful for the way her memory works: how she can remember, out of the blue, that Santa forgot to get my husband and I pink lights for our bedroom like she asked him in her letter — but she can forget to turn off the bathroom light after using the potty for the sixth time today.
A bonus is that this memory lapse also means she tends to forget that her brother pulls her hair every two minutes and other trials of that nature.
I am grateful for my son’s ability to come out unscathed from having a meltdown and a time-out, all within a matter of minutes as long as he gets a hug and kiss from Mommy.
I am grateful for his ability to charm his way out of a disapproving look or exasperation from his sister by screwing up his face and running around in a circle.
I am grateful for his talent of falling asleep in his car seat within five minutes of driving within the allotted time frame of 2 to 3 p.m. I am grateful that seeing a back hoe, school bus, big rig or garbage truck pretty much makes his day. I am grateful that when asked if he’s Mommy’s baby or Mommy’s big boy, he always answers, “Baby” before doing something cute—like dive-bombing me or butting me in the head.
Not every daily burden that is occurring out there in the real world can be lifted with adorable smiles and funny phrases.
And parenting, whether you stay at home or work at another job during the day, can be tough.
I’m sure tomorrow I’ll be shaking my fist in the air, berating the fact that it is illegal to sell kids on eBay or anywhere, for that matter.
But for now I am thankful and thankful is good.
Raina Dezall often mistakes molehills for mountains. You can contact her at mother_load@hotmail.com.