Seeing Life Through the Eyes of a Child

Catherine Hickem — 2008-01-25T08:47:13 -05.00

One of most endearing aspects of a small child is their perspective. They are so trusting. They view life, experiences, and people with a pure heart and incredible faith. They truly believe what you tell them and have great excitement about life itself.

As they get older and life unfolds, that spirit begins to dwindle. As a culture, we have hurried our children through their childhood, causing them to face the harshness of life way too early. These things happen due to circumstances beyond our control but they also happen when we fail to live in the power of the moment. Rushing our kids through life ages them and cheats them from the safety childhood was designed to provide.

Each phase of childhood has its blessings and its challenges. While some of them may be more taxing than others, be sure you soak up all the moments you can. Enjoy the sweet perspectve of your child's trust and be sure you do not contribute to their disillusionment. They will have plenty of people disappoint them in their life but let's make sure that it does start with us.

Most importantly, enjoy and enmbrace the trust you have with them. Take time to recognize and appreciate their perpsective. So the next time your children ask you to lay down on the floor, look outside to see the clouds which look like circus animals, take the time to see what they see. You just may find yourelf seeing other things you need to see.

It's Never Too Late

Catherine Hickem — 2007-10-31T08:23:42 -05.00

Too often as mothers we have a tendency to think that we can't recover from the mistakes we make with our kids. We are so hard on ourselves. We have short-term memory for the healthy things we do and long-term memory for the negative ones.

We need to let ourselves off the hook because few things in life are fatal, including the way we mother. While I am a strong advocate of having a growth mentality, I am also a believer that God teaches us many important truths in light of our weaknesses and mistakes.

Learning isn't just for the kids. It is for us as well. Our most significant life lessons come when we come up short in one way or another. Let me explain.

In the early years of my daughter's life, I was establishing my career as a therapist. I worked 3 days a week and was home the other days. My husband was a pastor of a church and those activities kept us busy.

When Tiffany was 8 years old, we decided to homeschool. Now that was a challenge because I maintained my career and reworked my schedule so I could homeschool. Eighteen months into the homeschooling I decided to put my career on the shelf and simply be a homeschool mom for a season of time.

I noticed when I returned home full time that she was always checking in with me during subjects. She would somehow hug me, touch me, or simply engage me. After noticing this pattern, it dawned on me that she had not had ENOUGH of "ME!"

I then set a rule that went like this: When Tiffany hugged me, she had to let go first. That way I knew her emotional tank was full and she had gotten what she needed. It also taught her to take responsibility for getting her emotional needs met.

To this day, it is still our rule and she is 21. There have been times when her hugs lasted for a 15-20 minutes and usually with no words spoken between us. She would kiss me on the cheek and say "Thanks Mom!" and go on about her way.

I was a little slow in recognizing her need to physically and emotionally connect, especially since my oldest is the exact opposite. However, God was good to give me an opportunity to figure it out so I could redeem the lost time when her needs weren't met.

It is never to late for God to redeem lost time, mistakes, and broken relationships.

It is never too late for your and I to say I am sorry.

It is never too late for you and I to make time to laugh and play with our kids.

It is never too late for us to admit we don't have our act together.

It is never too late for us to tell our kids we love them.

It is never too late to forgive ourselves and embrace the most challenging journey we will ever be on: Motherhood

Intentional Motherhood

Seeing Life Through the Eyes of a Child

It's Never Too Late