Tag Archive - children

Child Rhetoric

April 5, 2012 in People with 4 Comments

Today I ran across an old piece of paper that I had stuffed into my momento box. It’s a letter from four of my nieces to their mother, written in their youthful penmanship. What I found interesting enough about it to save it, was the rhetoric that went into the writing of it. My sister has eight children, all of which are home schooled. The letter is from the four oldest, who also happen to be girls. My sister was very good about teaching them American History, and it wasn’t hard, I suppose, because they loved (and still love) the stories of any kind of history. They are also very patriotic young ladies, so it’s no surprise that they borrowed from some of the language of important speeches in United States History. Take a look.

Also notice that they are “Alan’s” daughters. Not their mother’s daughters when it comes to this request.

I turned the paper over and found another equally funny thing. They apparently had folded it into eights and then noted something on the front that conflicted just a little  with their signature in the actual note.

From somebody you don’t know! You gotta love it! Truly truly speechwriters in the making. They will be women with a cause someday!!

Mother

April 3, 2012 in People with 8 Comments

There she is with her child,
hands resting gently on the shoulders
chatting to the neighbor.
The child stands, listening to the voices
–not the words.
She casually moves her hand
from her child’s shoulder
–runs her fingers through her child’s hair.
Child stands still
not wanting mother’s touch to end.

There she is now, gesturing across the street
her voice louder now and with laughter.
Child waits for mother.
Waits for the hand to return her gentle touches.
Listens still to the voices not the words.
Waits.
There is very little interaction between mother and child
that goes unnoticed.
Very little love lost.

Neighbor leaves and mother turns
from the door.
Ushers child back inside.
Mother returns to her kitchen, her work.
Child returns to play
Listens to the voice again,
this time singing,
the sounds of dishes clattering gently
against the sink.

My mom. Smiling in the kitchen.

I wrote this poem just now, thinking back on a memory just like this. My mom would sometimes play with my hair when she was talking to other people. She also often used to sing when I was a little girl, still too young to be at school with my brothers and sisters.

If you are a mom, you don’t always realize the small things you do to show love to your kids. Sometimes you wouldn’t dream that something you did made an impact on your child. If you love your children, it will show through even in your absent minded gestures. Your children remember stuff like this.

So even when you feel like your words aren’t getting through to your children, the love you have for them ingrained in your heart will get through to them. Has already gotten through to them. And that will go a lot further than any of your words.

Kids Know How to Have Fun

January 19, 2012 in Inspiration, People with 0 Comments

Kids are so special, aren’t they? I love the way they aren’t afraid to show their feelings, their sense of curiosity is unhampered so that they are continually exploring, and those that aren’t shy never meet a stranger.

The Little Girl Who Waved Goodbye

Yesterday, I watched a video (embedded below) of a little girl who was waving goodbye to people in a mall. I’m writing about it because it made me laugh and put a great big smile in the center of my heart. Whitespace.

I’m not sure the little girl knew exactly the impact she was having. First, on the people who saw her–most of these people smiled and waved back. She gave them a moment of happiness. Then, for the people who saw this after the fact on video–people like me who loved watching that video and for whom it meant something than just a cute little girl waving. I watched the people responding to her and I saw the kindness of those people, to wave and smile at that little girl when they could have ignored her. I saw all different kinds of people, young, old, fat, skinny and even some grumpy looking people that actually smiled and waved at her. She really made an impact.

Let Kids Be Kids

But she had an advantage. She is a little girl. I guess if I stood in a mall and waved goodbye to everyone people would just think I was weird. Adults are not supposed to do stuff like that. Kids can get away with it. And they don’t just get away with it, we like it when they do stuff like that. We like their unbridled friendliness, cheerfulness and curiosity. We revel in their innocence and naivity. We admire their lack of self-consciousness. But then we turn around and pound this stuff out of ourselves and our own children as they reach “that” age.

This little girl is not at that age yet. And I’m glad I got to see this. Take a couple minutes and watch the whole thing. Watch the people’s reactions. Remind yourself that we are a decent species for the most part.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUJIgkPoiBg]