Secrets and Hidden Treasures

This season in my life is not colored with leaves (boo on a southern fall) but with children. Lots of them. Sun up to sun down they knock on my door and eat my food and play in my house and clog my toilet with toilet paper and leave their dirty socks in my hallway, and their muddy footprints in my kitchen and play and fight and play and fight ALL day long. Because it’s November and I am supposed to be thankful and because I’m interested, I’m focusing hard on the realities of childhood.

In her book, Listening to God With Children, Gianna Gobbi reminds her readers (me) of Maria Montessori’s prayer for teachers.

“Help us, O God, to enter into the secret of childhood, so that we may know, love and serve the child in accordance with the laws of thy justice and following thy holy will.” Sounds nice , uhh?

Entering into that secret requires quite a bit from adults. On most days,I imagine it requires more discipline and willingness than adults care to give. Perhaps because they are stressed, or distracted, or hurting, or overwhelmed or maybe they just don’t care. Or maybe they choose their parenting style when they feel insecure as parents because their homes have messes or when their children are disobedient or dirty and impolite. I admit that I have let one of the aforementioned drill my parenting at one < more> time or another. Including impatience with insistance on choosing a hair-do, ignoring requests for attention to mind numb on facebook, rushing through art projects, allowing Nick Jr. to parent, and flat out being rude to my kid and justifying it to myself in the name of PMS. I need no reminders that this parenting business is hard. Especially when it requests that my home be wonder world for the entire neighborhood.

Digging for treasures is hard work. And I know, so long as I am a parent -because I chose to be, I am my child’s first teacher . And it is my job to reach for an understanding of this secret; this treasure--So I can parent it, nurture it, guide it, and delight in it. I like my job. And today, I am giving thanks for it.