Sunday, January 29, 2012

You Can't Scare Me, I'm a Mother

I saw a fun Halloween decoration, it said, "You Can't Scare Me, I'm a Mother."
While it makes for a funny decoration, it is so far from the truth. Of you course you can scare me, threaten my kid and you'll scare me. (You'll see my mama bear instinct kick in pretty quickly too though.) If my kid gets sick, it scares me. When my kid is in another room and I hear a thud proceeded by crying, it scares me. When I have bad dreams about my kid getting lost, it scares me. When I think about my kid, who is five today, turning into a teenager, IT SCARES ME.
Everyone agrees the world is scarier today than it was even twenty years ago. Sure way back in the day, out on the range, life was hard. Sickness and weather were far harder to deal with than they are today. But the dangers today are so sneaky. Kids bullying other kids leads to tragic stories on the news. Terrorism. Don't get me started on terrorism. The fact that my five year old has to take her shoes and any metal items off while traveling through security at the airport is so sad. Now parents have debates about whether or not vaccinations are a good or bad thing. You make a decision, but there is always that one percent of doubt in the back of your mind making you wonder if you did the right thing giving your kid a shot, or not giving them a shot.
I try really hard to not stick my head in the sand. I try to be informed. But after awhile I realize I just have to do the best I can at steering this adorable human in the right direction. I saw a quote that really sums up how I try to remind myself to not worry. "Worrying is like praying for something you don't want." If you believe in the power of prayer, like I do, then you know the weight of this quote is heavy. Every time I'm faced with a new parenting task I've never encountered I find myself thinking about how I was raised. Thank God for my parents. I am so blessed I was raised the way I was raised. I think I'll let my daughter listen to a bit more music than I was allowed to listen to, but other than that, I have a guide for my parenting future.
Now, onto to the not so serious, but still being sincere.
Top five, since she's five today, reasons why I love my daughter. I am really making this difficult for myself.
1. Her sense of humor. Oh my gosh she's funny.
2. Her laugh. No matter how bad your day might have been, that laugh will fix it.
3. Her love of animals. This reminds me of me and I'm glad someone else thinks the way I do.
4. Her generosity. She seems to have my knack for enjoying giving presents more than getting them. Don't get me wrong, she's five, she REALLY loves getting presents right now, but she's on her way to understanding the importance of it is better to give than receive.
5. Her diplomacy. Try getting her to play favorites. She really won't give in to pressure, at least most of the time. I'm concerned about her tendency to ignore her diplomatic tendencies when sweets are offered as a bribe.
Of course there are more reasons I love my Smylee Rylee, ahem, her smile, but I'll keep it to five for today. I am so thankful for her. She has changed my life. She teaches me. She doesn't know it, but she does.

2 comments:

  1. People in the natural believe that the world is getting scarier. When we hide in God consistently, He more and more let's us see beneath the veil of lies to the truth: that He is all powerful and fully in charge. "Fear not, for I AM with you."

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  2. Oh I miss y'all! Enjoy these years...raising teens is scary! Give her a hug from me!

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