Qualities I admire in my kids

My oldest daughter Natalie uses a wheelchair. I started to notice that her hands sometimes get dirty when she uses her wheels instead of the handles on her wheelchair to move around. So I thought that it would help to get her some sports gloves to protect her hands. I would have never guessed what her response to them would have been. When I gave Natalie the gloves, she proclaimed excitedly, “I am a superhero!” and lifted her hands up in a muscular pose. 

My children see the world as full of superheroes and princesses where all I seem to see are villains. That is a quality that I greatly admire in my kids. My fears and insecurities always get in the way of me being like that. When my children learn something new their excitement can be infectious. Whereas when I learn something new, I start stressing about all the things that could go wrong instead of being happy about a new opportunity. I want to be more like my daughters and see more good in the world.

I know the news is full of sad stories and scary people, but that does not mean we cannot try and focus on the joys that happen every day. Natalie will get 3 little chocolate chips and she is thrilled. If all I got was 3 chocolate chips for dessert, I would have a much different reaction. When I am going through my day, instead of seeing all the minor inconveniences, I am going to look for the joy and the silver linings. 

Small tasks and chores are not my favorite thing to do, but when doing them with my children they are much more fun. Nora loves to do dishes, and enjoys helping find where all the dishes go in the dishwasher. Then she enjoys handing me dishes when they are clean to get put away. To see the joy on her face when she gets to help put her own spoons away is heartwarming. I now try to find ways to make doing these chores more fun if that is doing them with my kids or listening to music and dancing while cleaning. It is important that I stop taking myself so seriously all the time. 

My favorite thing of all about my children though is their imagination. When wheelchair gloves make you a superhero or a blanket over your head makes you invisible, life becomes more like an action movie. Sometimes I need to have that kind of imagination in my own life. Believing in the impossible and making sure to laugh more at myself!

There were many things I expected when I became a mother but I never knew it could bring me so much unexpected joy and I never could have imagined the qualities that I would admire in my own kids. Here is my hope for everyone; moms and all those who are over stressed: I hope you can follow your kid’s example and find the joy in small things, make chores fun and dream big!