watching and letting them grow

She IS the mini boss around here.

I’m finding that letting my kids learn and grow means a lot of me observing. Of course I step in and stop the fighting. Like, you know, every other minute or so.

But when no one’s life is imperiled, and I can actually keep my hands to myself, I try to just observe. Observe them laughing and saying funny dramatic off-key things. Observe them negotiating and haggling with a honed craft to make any street vendor proud. Observe them making dire proclamations about whomever they’re hating on that moment (Mama side bar: “we only hate the Devil”).

And when I observe and I take meager mental notes and I pat myself on the back or, just as quickly, kick my own shins as to where they learned THAT, I remember. They are not mine. They are their own. They aren’t accomplishments of mine. They are their own masterpieces unfolding. They aren’t just an inverse of the mirror in Snow White (showing me my worst). They are their own struggling, gasping, reaching spirited person. Prone to virtue and vice. Made in the image of their Creator.

I still have many years of big parenting work ahead. Guiding and teaching, disciplining and snuggling. But today, and maybe for you, too, today I am content to letting them grow with a little water and a little sun and a whole lot of air.

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If you haven’t seen that the Blessed is She Advent reflection book is out, you may be living under a social media firewall 😉

My dear friend Shannon Evans crafted this incredible journey for us to take with her, walking along the path of the Magnificat prayer, studying how we are being called to bear God’s image into this world. My amazingly talented friend Erica Tighe designed it. And the cover is as stunning as the words within! A beautiful collaboration. It’s available here.