Days I suck as a parent:

Don't get on the table.
Get off the fireplace.
Be quiet.
Don't run.
Don't be so rough.
Go to your room.
Go play ouside.
Get off the table.
Get off the back of the couch.
Why are you so loud?
Stop talking -- it's quiet time.
What did you do to him?
Settle down.

7/7/02

Astonishing Knowledge from Little Ones

Children are wonderful little beings with their own unique blend of love, spirituality and wonder. I heard my three-year-old daughter exclaim one afternoon,

"Mommy! The sky is so blue. Let's sit on the step and smell the fresh air!"

On another occassion she ran out of the garage into the driveway while I was taking the trash out. It was drizzling a little and I told her to go back inside so she wouldn't get wet. Instead she gleefully jumped up and down and said,

"Mommy! Let's dance in the rain!"

I was instantly put in my place. Astonished at her awareness for the beauty in all things and her exuberance for life, I agreed. And we danced in the rain together.

Found Journal Entry: 10-16-01

Yesterday my daughter, Aubrey, held tightly to a string attached to a balloon, a cluster of mylar fish. She ran furiously through the house, up and down, eyes bright and twinkly. She screamed,

"Mommy! Mommy! I caught a fish! Look! I caught a fish!"

(She had just turned three that month.)