It Matters

Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what. If you don't listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won't tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff. 

~Catherine M. Wallace~

I saw this quote awhile ago and instantly loved it.  I get it.  I was notorious for putting my little preschool hands on my mom or dad's checks, turning their face away from a newspaper and saying, "Look at me when I'm talking to you!"  I'm sure it was the first break they had all day, but I wasn't having it.  Being a kid is important business.  It matters.

Justice matters.  Parents tend to shrug off passionate stories that start with "I got in trouble for talking even though I was just telling the others to be quiet!"  In the eyes of a 7 year old, it's everything.

Joy matters.  As a teacher, I've listened to really long stories that end with finding a quarter.  Usually at 8:30 am when I am trying to get things ready for the day and the kid has something else they are supposed to be doing.   I'll admit, more times than not, I was annoyed by these types of stories.  But a smile and an "Aren't you lucky!" is all it took to let the student know their joy matters.

Honesty matters.  In my last year of teaching 3rd grade, one of my students wrote about having a friend over to play.  That friend's mom called to say that grandma had unexpectedly passed away.  The mom didn't want the friend to know just yet so they could get everything ready to leave town.  My student overheard just part of the phone call and knew something was very wrong, but her mom insisted everything was fine and she should just go play.  Through her writing, you could feel the anxiety eating away at her because she just wanted the truth.

Novelty matters.  My 4th grade cousin was telling a story about how a boy in her class stomped on a juice box.  The juice came out the straw so high, it hit the ceiling!  She and I (age 16 at the time) burst out laughing while all the adults looked on disgustedly.  That's when I realized I was the only one who remembered what it was like to be 10.  Looking at it from the adult point of view....yeah, that kid was naughty and it would be a mess he needed to clean up.  From a kid point of view, it's crazy funny.  I mean who KNEW a tiny juice box could shoot juice so high?!

The juice box story made me start to fear that I would forget what it was like to be a kid.  I didn't want to forget.  When the highlight of your day was learning to squish up a peanut butter sandwich so you could sculpt things out of it before eating.  How devastating it was when someone pocketed your favorite marble at recess, even though you never said you were playing for keeps.  What it felt like to get into trouble at school when you honestly were trying to do right.  I didn't want to forget what all of that felt like.  Kids can't usually see the world outside their family or classroom.  They don't really understand that there are bigger problems in the world than who stole their strawberry chapstick right out of their desk.  That's ok with me.  If their world is in disarray, then it matters.

Right now, it's easy to listen closely because there is usually one new word a day for at least one of them.  (The other day, Emily's was "Hurrah! Hurrah!" from the ants go marching song.  Julia's new one is "Peek Boo!")  I want to keep listening.  Even when I'm tired, the house is a mess, and I have more on my "to do" list than I feel like I can get done.  I want to be there so they know that if it matters to them, then it matters to me.

Here are some funny new videos:

This ball gets used for everything.  Well, everything except exercising.

The girls are just starting to understand the concept of waiting.  Here, Emily is using the sign for wait.  (Larry is our neighbor who is building us book cases in the basement.)

The potty is exciting!

Here are photos from all the grandparents visiting and Halloween fun!

Julia sticking out of Grandpa's roof!  We tried it with Emily and she just got kind of scared.

Grandpa makes me tall!

This how you do it when you are a grandma of twins!

Mesmerized by Grandmom's birthday cupcake.

Happy Birthday to you!

Grandmom probably slept well that night!

This is the type of pictures you get when you are grandparents of 4 kids under 4!

Emily didn't really want to touch it.  So she had to go find her scooper before she could play in the pumpkin guts!

Pretty sure Julia would have sat there and played for another hour.  

The question they are always seeking the answer to:  Can I fit in this?

I'll just slide and impress Grandpa and Grandmom instead of digging in pumpkin guts!

My school friends kid Halloween party!

Nice Levi!

As expected, they kept pulling off the antennae!

Pumpkin playdough

Emily likes it and didn't try to eat too much.

Photos from my wonderful former co-worker!  She stopped by after school on our last warm day to help me get just one good one of them together in costume.

And here it is!  We have a winner! 

You have to take every opportunity you can to play in the leaves!

Crunchy!

Trying to wrangle them, since they always go two different directions!

Wes & Kara's Party!  Julia had fun hanging out with Uncle Jon

And with little Tiger Lucas.

Making a spider

Waited until the end of the party to get all 4 kids in a photo...opps.

A happy lady bug playing with Kara's tea set.  This girl loves her tea parties!

Everyone at our music class!  

We visited school on Halloween to read and pass out candy to 5th grade which includes students from my last class.  It was so much fun!  The girls look a little scared because the whole class was singing the ABCs for them.  Neither one was scared the rest of the time and enjoyed seeing fish, a gerbil, and being treated like royalty by the kids and teachers!