Enjoying the simple things

 

In this day and age it's tough raising a child. There's iPhones in every persons hand, toy commercial after toy commercial, and social media just keeps growing into a competition on who is living the "best" life. I truly miss the days of dial up internet and beepers. Can they create a time machine already because I would gladly go back to 1999, and stay there. 

Unfortunately there isn't too much I can do about it but just force , yes I said force my children to enjoy the simple things in life. Something as simple as sitting in silence and watching the sun set or the clouds form into animals. It will most definitely not be on their list of favorite things because they are too young to quite understand the benefits of down time, but it is something that should be set for them anyway. Sometimes allowing your child to be bored just a tad can spark their creativity a little, and throw them into an adventure they wouldn't have been possibly on if they stayed glued to the television. I remember being young and I would get in trouble so my parents would not let me play with my toys - right there is where I found my passion for simple things like writing, and reading.  It also opened my eyes to pretend play and using random things to play school or doctor. I spent hours on hours playing school, I should have known then that it would bring me into a career in childhood education. 

You don't want to raise a child who grows up to be never satisfied with what is handed to them. I see it all the time when a child is told to go to the library and you see the agony on their face. Or when their Christmas present isn't exactly as big as they expected it to be. No judging because those have once been my child and it absolutely kills me. I feel like I have failed them as their mother because they value more what they are getting from the experience than the experience itself. BUT this is something you can consistently teach your child until they receive it and use it in their daily routine all on their own. 

I have always been a mom who goes overboard for birthdays for Christmas , even thanksgiving where I would give them a present to show them how thankful I am for them (never again!) -  because everything else I do just isn't enough to show my love and devotion to them right ? We sometimes over do things for our children that are better off simplified. We believe it's going to show our love for them , or we use the excuse that we want them to have everything we didn't have, but they are kids who don't need ten Imaginext houses or four of the same Spider-Man's. They just need to be shown how simple it is to love the life you are given because you were only given one. So before you start to complain about spilled milk (literally) or not making it to the bus stop on time - remember those little eyes watching you and show them that every little thing is going to be alright, if they just take some time to enjoy.