Things I've Learned about Children

This message was passed around on Facebook for those who it was applicable to.

Dirty dishes prove I feed my children, messy floors prove that I let my kids have fun, piles of clothes prove I keep my children in clean clothes, a messy bathroom proves that I bathe my children, and an un-made bed proves they had a warm place to sleep! So next time you walk into my house and see a mess think wow those kids are loved!

Someday I may actually type these words down (with slight variation), put them in a simple frame, and the hang it on the wall so it's one of the first things one sees upon entering my home. Then I wouldn't have to say anything to excuse any mess. Plus, it would be a great reminder to me that messes aren't always the end of the world.


Along with this, I've learned a few things one ought to know about children.

They do not like your schedule on when it's time for bed. They like to make up their own schedule. An hour before dinner, for example. Then they don't want to go to bed afterwards. They are also natural alarm clocks. They come into your room informing you that the sun is up and they are up, so why are you in bed? And you can't say, just a few more minutes...

They are really adorable when they are half asleep when they are just waking up. They are simply hilarious at this stage with their tired eyes and their sleepy smiles. They're plainly happy to see you.

When you decide to go on a little walk with them, and they inform you they do not want to ride in the stroller, you immediately make sure they know they will have to walk all the way. Especially, since if you carried them on the way home up the mountain, your arms will fall off. You know this from experience. Yet, later, when you are coming back up the mountain to go home, you give in because you see how exhausted they are. Well, you give in until your arms fall off.

Do not plan to arrive anywhere quickly. To begin, it takes awhile to get kids ready. You need to find shoes, socks, and perhaps their clothes if they've decided to take them off and put them in a location no one is aware of. If you are driving, you realize that you forgot a number of things and have to run back in the house multiple times to get all of it, but you notice you still forgot something when you are halfway to your destination. If you are walking, the children will stop to see every flower in bloom, every bug, the source of every noise, the cracks in the ground, old leaves to crumple up and anything else that captures their attention and imagination. It's wonderful and causes you to truly think about the things we are blessed with.

Expect them to try to eat like an adult with their spoons and forks, but realize they will make a mess anyways as the food is too stubborn to stay on their utensils so they use their hands to scoop it up onto their spoons, miss their mouths but not their faces or their stomachs.

Comprehend that there is a mystical force that totally destroys a room you just cleaned when your back is turned for just a second. There is also a force that causes children to ruin things in less than a second. So just don't be under the illusion that all the expensive things will miraculously make it through a childhood.

Finally, the last thing to know about children are that they are extremely precious little bundles of love and are perhaps the greatest teachers in the world.