What Matters to Them

I was looking at picture of my 3 year old and started to cry. The picture of him was so simple and caring yet spoke volumes to me in a split second. To my 3 year old, it doesn't matter how many degrees I have (or if I have any at all). It doesn't matter to him if I am a cover girl's beauty or a prized writer. To him all that matters is that I am there for him. He asks me, "Mommy, do you see me?" or "Mommy, are you proud of me?" To him, the only thing that matters to him is that I show up. All the striving we do is really for us. All our pursuit is for them (we tell ourselves, society tells us) so that they can have food and clothes and then get into the best colleges and so forth. But really, for them (at any age) all they really want is for all of you to see all of them.

So this is not an excuse to not be a provider for your children and pursue a career. But what is should say to you is that when we are in all our pursuit of success and happiness, we must remember that there has to be a level of simplicity when it comes to our children. They want a warm body to play their latest pretend game because truthfully, while he has the Nintendo DS, he is just as happy playing with the cardboard box and making it a car. Listen to the hearts of your child, listen to her eyes. She is telling you what she really wants, or more importantly, what she needs.

From one mommy to another,
*Aurellia*