Celebrating My Children
There is so much I want to share today, but the timing isn’t quite right. It will be once I fully wrap my hands, head, and heart around it all.
What I have been able to do is finally come to terms with exactly what it means to celebrate my children.
Tears
This holiday season has seen so many tears, and not for the reasons I openly discuss — missing my dad like crazy.
These tears have fallen not because of my children, instead for my children.
And this is a new concept for me, if you want the truth.
There are mothers out there who think their children can do no wrong. I applaud them. Good for them! How lovely it is to keep your children in this best light.
I, on the other hand, have not.
Don’t get me wrong, my babies are the most precious beings to me. But I’m also aware of the unique qualities which make each of them who they are.
Neither Ryan nor I have ever fully taken their sides; we have always admitted the things we know to be true.
And this past month-ish, I’ve been regretting that. I have regretted not taking their sides more. And I have regretted not celebrating exactly who they are to the fullest.
In fact, it was the root to all those tears.
Neither Amiya nor Isaiah go to their traditional Montessori any longer.
Amiya’s transition, while filled with some anger, was met with ease on the other side.
Isaiah’s transition has been awful, but there is the beautiful light we are seeing that will transpire.
And Samarah? Her Kindergarten teacher is beyond incredible, helping us see the joy and delight with how Sam sees things just a little differently. And I think this pattern story can demonstrate just how I came to truly celebrate my children.
Patterns
They have been working on patterns at Samarah’s school.
For example:
- circle, square, square, circle = a, b, b, a
- circle, circle, square, square = a, a, b, b
- circle, square, circle, circle = a, b, a, a
So when the teacher has the patterns written as such, the kids automatically know they start with “a,” and create the pattern from there.
Samarah filled an entire pattern worksheet in her own way.
Using the examples from above, she would do things like:
- circle, square, square, circle = f, g, g, f
- circle, circle, square, square = h, h, i, i
- circle, square, circle, circle = p, q, p, p
Her teacher said they were never taught or shown anything like that.
It wasn’t the “normal” way, but it also wasn’t incorrect.
I literally was all smiles.
How beautiful to see something differently; not wrong, different.
Celebrating My Children
Here’s what I learned this past month.
No one gets to judge my children. No one knows their birth circumstances, and background. No one knows all that Ryan and I do every single day for them and with them.
And, most importantly, no one gets to treat them like they are anything less than the little human being God intended them to be.
No one.
