The Wonder of it All

I took this picture at our home during my former husband’s retirement party. After the party was over and the guests were gone or asleep in another room, he scrolled through the pictures I had taken as the volunteer photographer and recorder of this momentous event in his life. We argued over the photos I had taken when he shouted at me about me how hurt and angry he was. For every photo of the few friends, neighbors, and co-workers who had managed to show up, there were a dozen of our granddaughters and our great-nieces interacting. He was angry that “I had ONE JOB” and I screwed it up by photographing the children, rather than the adults.

But so was I, at least in my mind. Children area lot more interesting than a group of adults eating and drinking and trying to make conversation.

This is the story of why I so love working with and caring for children; enough that I’ve done it for over forty years. It’s not difficult at all to find blogs about the difficulties, the sacrifices, the tantrums and laundry and loneliness that come with motherhood and parenthood.

There is so very much wonder to be had in parenting and caring for children; sometimes you have to look a little harder to find it, but take my word for it: not only is it there, but it’s worth the search.

From the sheer miracle of watching a human being come forth from her mother to the flutter of awe that comes simply by watching a newborn find his mother’s breast and latch on, the wonder of it all leaves me breathless. I recall being a teenager and watching a tiny baby boy wiggle his toes and wave his little arms in the air and find his fist to stuff into his mouth and my bursting into song as soon as I was alone in my car because my heart was so overwhelmed with wonder.

Taking the time to be still and watch as a baby girl struggles and stretches and lifts and falls as she figures out just how to manage the whole mechanics of crawling for the first time is truly magical. The sheer coordination and skill that goes into crawling is really something. Watching as a little human figures it out is a sight to behold.

Then, suddenly, she’s taking her first step. It makes me swell with pride much the same way watching videos of a man stepping onto the moon does. Viewing the look of wonder on her face as she begins to realize all that she’s been missing all this time fills my eyes with wonder, too.

Regarding the tiny boy who manages to stack blocks and sort shapes and figure out just how fun it is to build things up and knock them down again- or better yet- is smart enough to have me do the building and rebuilding so he can knock them down again and again- is priceless. The skills involved!

I could continue to take you on a journey through every new skill and milestone, but we’d be here all day.

Here’s the thing: two things can be true at once. Parenting and caring for children can be arduous and trying, yet if you can allow yourself to scratch the surface, it can also be a journey of adventure and wonder.

If the past forty years have taught me anything, it’s that life is about perspective. The well-known fable of the five blind men and the elephant comes to mind. We can choose how to view the job of parenting and caring for children, which makes all the difference in the world. If we choose to, the children who were granted to our care can truly be ambassadors who grant us the gift of wonder. Or they can be hour after hour after day after day of thankless labor and sacrifice that we must endure.

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