Skip to main content

A Lesson in Appreciation


Guest post: Shala Hebets
My daughter adores the board book Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? She loves it so much that I read it to her every night, multiple times, and she never tires of it. In fact, she looks at it longingly when I put it back onto her bookcase prior to laying her in her crib at night. I'm always amazed by her concentration and interest in this colorful book, and I cherish seeing the light bulb of understanding that appears so magnificently across her face when she comprehends something.
My son does the same thing, but his concentration is followed by asking many, many questions. While there are days when I could do without the 20 questions or in his case 30 questions, I enjoy knowing that he is asking these questions with the goal of fully understanding the story. He is at that age where he truly wants to identify all the happenings around him, and as a result, he keeps me on my toes.
Watching my children learning, developing, and understanding the world that they live in is one of my greatest delights! It is fascinating, impressive, and exciting all at the same time. It makes me imagine all of their lives' possibilities. The possibilities of what they will become, what will inspire them, and what the world will look like when they're my age.
It is these quite times, snuggled in a soft chair reading a book or telling an imaginary story together, that I enjoy above all else. There is something so profoundly special about the opportunity to pensively witness your child's development. To silently see their imaginations blossom or and their perspectives deepen is truly a gift to observe. 

Perhaps, this is why I appreciate the quite times: In those peaceful minutes, I have a moment to breathe, listen and focus on the amazing transformations that my children are experiencing every day. It gives me a glimpse into their subconscious, a peek at their future, and a glance at their potential. It fills me with pride. It makes me remember and acknowledge how blessed I am to have these little miracles in my life. It gives me an instant to appreciate the many ways in which my children enrich me. It is a reward that I believe all parents can appreciate and understand. As one of our friends recently said, "Parenthood: what spectacular ride!" I couldn't agree more.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Maid Side-Kick

I was kind of a little sad when I read the news about this - there will be no live-in Indonesian maids in Malaysia anymore . There are pros and cons to having a live-in maid, as with everything else, but for us, we enjoyed more pros than cons. Back then, when my kids were little, we brought in a family of maids to help with...well, just about everything, and we were like two families merged into one. They ate what we ate, we sleep, they sleep, we shop, they shop, they joke, we laugh, we joke, they laugh...for me, the maid I hired was more like a sister and side-kick to me. For that few years, I was dependent on her to mind-read my schedule and when I need or don't need help. She picked things up quickly and we ended up having lots of moments whereby we were in sync. Today, two of them are on my Facebook and we were gleefully chatting over Facebook Messenger since they've just discovered the wonders of the Internet and Social Media. Since we were more like partners in crim...

Stargazer - Stretch Those Sides

I have been doing this pose, part of Cosmic Dance (a type of yoga, I am assuming), called Stargazer pose without knowing it is called Stargazer's pose a lot in the past. You see, sometimes, I don't follow the rules and come up with my own stretches and poses. It is fun. I have on some music, nice, soothing music or just anything I can click on. Then I go with the flow, letting my hair down. Just moving to the music...and that is when I come up with the above Stargazer's pose. This pose really stretches your sides. Keep your eyes on the outstretched hand if you are keeping it pointed to the top, as if you are waving or connecting to a higher energy from the Universe. Your arms will ache a little but hey, toned arms, here you come! :-) For those who want a bigger stretch, it is safe to slowly and gently move the lifted hand towards your back...don't overdo it, listen to your body's complaints and respect it. You don't have to prove anything to anyone, reme...

Drunk People Cannot Make Comments on Blogs

OK, here's the thing with this image thing....you don't want people to design robots or programs or spiders or cockroaches or whatever to spam blogs and websites. I understand that. In fact, I am all for it. It's annoying to have spambots come in and post one liners like.... Can't get it up? Try this website. Top quality Viagra for low pricing. Value discount if bought inbulk. Or the most common ones would be.... Want a completely paid-for holiday with your family and coming home to a villa beside the sea before taking a spin in your luxury car. Then you have to read this! It's amazing! Within three weeks, you will get $32,000 in your account. Within a month, whether you like it or not, we'll bank in $65,498 into your bank account. Within six months, you're a f*%#@* royalty. I don't like that....and I assuming you don't like that either, right? If you have a popular blog, you get even worse stuff like hate mails, awful comments or people who ...