I’m going to miss this someday. I’m going to miss words that are misspelled but written from the heart by an 8-year-old who knew her mommy needed a little bit of space to work on a project this weekend. I didn’t ask for the sign, but there it was on my office/laundry room door, and it touched me. A few years back, I had a breakthrough with this same daughter. She’d taken to dressing herself in the most mismatched of clothes possible, and preferred her hair uncombed and unrefined. No sleek ponytails for her. No fancy barrettes. No cute little curly-q ties. And this bothered me a bit, but then it hit me. Soon enough, she’s going to be a teen girl, caught up in this society of looks-beats-all, obsessed over her appearance. She will spend hours in front of the mirror trying to get her hair “just so,” and her clothes will never again be mismatched. I don’t know why it took me so long for this reckoning to hit, but when it did, I let go. And now, I see the beauty in the lovely, innocent imperfections of my children. I read the writings that come home from my youngest two school kids and know that someday, that writing will take on a more polished form. For now, I will hold fast to the beautiful, unfolding petals of my little flowers, knowing that, like me, they are works in progress. And, like me, their perfection will never be attained in this world, nor was it meant to be so. How refreshing to know this.
Another moment of the heart came this weekend when our kids excitedly gathered around the television in our family room to watch The Wizard of Oz. I recall the days when my sister and I would happily anticipate the annual showing of the same, though in my youngest years, I couldn’t get past those flying monkeys, and the green witch gave me nightmares. Still, the black and white scene of Dorthy singing the song that catapulted her into permanent stardom will remain a favorite childhood memory, and I had fun flashbacks Saturday evening watching our children enjoying the same scene. The circle of life with a hint of Hollywood.
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