Children-the greatest teachers
Parenthood teaches the most vital component of life, which is love. Love lives in families, in friendships and in intimate relationships. The precious connection between parent and child defines a love which cannot be experienced on any other relationship platform.
The teaching process involved in a child/parent relationship enables relearning of what often becomes lost along the journey of life.
Children, through a most innocent form of wisdom teach love, simplicity, laughter, magic, playfulness, joyfulness and spontaneity. They teach the value of adventure and exploration. Simply by being, children teach the joyfulness of a slower pace.
Living in the moment, and by embracing the surprises of each day, children spread magic through laughter, through wonderment, through innocence, through fearlessness and through unconditional love.
Children find magic in the softness of baby animals, in the flight of a butterfly, in the arches of a rainbow and in stories at bedtime.
They find joy in the simplicity of eating an ice cream cone on a hot day, of wearing a new pair of shoes, of snuggling in a comfortable blanket, and of blowing bubbles in the wind.
Children find wonderment in star-lit skies, in grains of sand, in Polly-wogs and spider webs. They keep playfulness alive through guessing games, through making silly faces, through painting pictures, through jumping in mud puddles, through pat-a-cake-pat-a-cake, and through pulling Grandpa’s beard.
Through play and exploring the world around them, children teach the meaning of life:
-when something comes crumbing down, get busy and rebuild
-when you fall, get up and keep moving
-sometimes, the only thing that makes you feel better is to cry in someone’s arms
-when learning to swim in the ocean of life, sometimes you’ve got to choke on a few minnows before you reach your destination
Through their very presence, children teach that miracles happen every day and that there will always be monsters under your bed.
Parenting comes full circle, as that which is instilled in the hearts and minds of children when they’re young, gets returned to the parent in later years.
Angela McMullen is a freelance writer who lives and writes in maritime Nova Scotia, where she is inspired by the rhythm of the Bay of Fundy tides, the pulse of long-standing forests, the expansive fields of the Annapolis Valley, the backdrop of North and South mountain ranges, and the distinction of the four seasons. www.forestwriting.com