Seeing the World Through Your Child's Eyes!

I will never forget a conversation I had with my three year old daughter many years ago.  I actually wrote it in my journal at the time.

"Mom do you like butterflies?"

"Of course I like butterflies,  do You?"  "Oh yes, she says , I love butterflies" 

"What about the sun?"  "Oh yes, I love the sun too!"

I don't know if it was because she was my youngest but I cherished these conversations so much back then , I was learning after having three children to appreciate these sweet conversations because I saw how quickly the days were passing and how my time with my young children was fleeing.  I knew how my kids were getting older and I knew it wouldn't  be long and we would be having more serious talks on more serious stuff.  My daughter is now 11 and I see how right I was.

Its a lesson to us adults, why aren't we enjoying the simple things around us like small children do?  How wonderful to have a conversation about the butterflies and all of the other things God has created for us to enjoy. Take time and enjoy your life like a 3yr old does! They are in no hurry to rush around like crazy and worry about when and how things are going to happen, they just live and enjoy!  They appreciate so many things that we adults often take for granted!

5 Ways to See the World Through Your Child's Eyes!

1. Stop and Smell the Flowers – Literally, Stop and smell the flowers!  We are so busy with to do lists and hustle and bustle we do not stop to enjoy the beautiful wonders of the world and God’s creation!  Not only can smelling the flowers be wonderful for the senses it can be great for stress relief!

2. Take the Time to Enjoy something your child finds fascinating – Have you ever watched a toddler just open and shut the door over and over or watch a child appreciate the same beautiful book over and over.  They find these things fascinating and love learning about how even the smallest things work.

3. Make a point to use your 5 senses each day with intention.  Smell, Touch, Hearing, Taste, and Sight!  Toddlers/Preschoolers enjoy doing this to the fullest.  They are so curious about their world and when they want to learn about it, they do it through their senses.  Even babies are constantly putting everything in their mouth because it is how they learn about their world.

4. Laugh more – they say by the time a child reaches 9 yrs. old his/her laughing cuts down by half.  How sad, the older they become they less they find the joy in the small things.  Work on finding things that make you laugh and choose joy, it truly is a choice!  A happy person rubs off on other people! 

5. Don’t sweat the small stuff – this should be easy for us but most of the time it is not!  Let the small stuff go, we spend far too much time worrying about things that really don't matter.  I have learned this the hard way in my 41 yrs. of life.  Ask yourself is this really going to matter next year, 5 yrs. from now and so forth!  This helps you evaluate what is important and what is not.

Make sure when spring arrives you take time to enjoy the butterflies, I know we are going to!

Blessings, 

Angela