Be kind.

I've seen a video titled "If you could see inside other people's hearts" floating around on facebook for a few weeks but haven't actually taken the time to watch it until today.  I'm so glad I did because I think it's a very important lesson.  Although the video takes place mostly in a hospital, the lesson is still the same. You can't tell by looking at a person what is going on in their lives. Take a few minutes to check it out.

It's so easy to pass judgement and assume we know everything about a person.  Especially in the age of social media where we are constantly checking to see what other people are up to.  Looking at pictures, reading status updates, seeing who is friends with who and how they interact with each other.  It's easy for us to start making judgements and forming opinions.  I am certainly guilty of this..  But here's the thing... it's all superficial.  The truth is, we don't know.  We don't know what is really going on in a person's life.  You've heard the saying "Walk a mile in my shoes."  I believe you'd have to walk a lifetime in someone's shoes to really understand.  You'd have to experience every single circumstance that they've encountered.  Every heartache, every loss, every tragedy, every struggle.

I know how it feels to be gossiped about.  I know how it feels to be called names and to have people jump to conclusions about my character.  Some of you know what I'm talking about.  The thing is, I also know how it feels to go to bed at night and pray to God that I wouldn't wake up in the morning.  There was much more going on than what the world could see from the outside.

I think we all need to be more empathetic, understanding and accepting.  I think we need to remember that we have enough of our own issues to work on, we don't need to be worrying about someone else's.  And I think we need to realize that if we could walk in someone else's shoes, hear what they hear, see what they see, we would probably treat them differently.

"Be kind.  Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."


Just a thought :)

Lessons from a toddler

I love reading blogs.  I've learned so much from other peoples' blogs! Cooking ideas, parenting advice, funny stories, inspirational life lessons, etc.  I admire bloggers for putting their thoughts out there for others to read.  I've wanted to start blogging for a long time and haven't gotten around to it.  So here it goes! I have a lot of interests - Nutrition, fitness, photography, cupcakes and most importantly - mommyhood.  I plan on blogging about whatever thought comes to mind on any given day. Hopefully it will interest someone out there!  But If not, at least I'll have my blog posts to look back on someday.  Kind of like a diary, I suppose.

Today I just want to talk about a moment I had with my little boy the other night.  We are so focused on teaching our children all the right things and guiding them in the right direction that we sometimes don't realize how much they are teaching us. 

 It was late - probably 10:30.  I had intended to get him to bed earlier (like I do every night) but as it usually goes in our house, we were way past bed time.  It had taken some serious persuasion to get him into the bathtub.  But of course, once he was playing with his fishy toys and bubbles he didn't want to get out, and that was a whole new battle.  Then I spent twenty minutes trying to wiggle him into his pajamas while he was yelling "I dont want to go to bed!"  Then he needed a snack, but he didn't want anything I offered to him.  After we finally agreed on a banana with peanut butter, it was time to brush his teeth.  Prying his little mouth open was especially difficult this night  (although it's never an easy task) and every time I got the toothbrush in his mouth he would bite down on it so I couldn't brush.  Needless to say, by the time the bedtime routine was finished I was sweating and quite exhausted.  I got him all snuggled in (my bed, of course) with his Elmo pillow and his blue blankie.  My mind was already wandering to all the things I had to do before I could go to bed.  The dishes in the sink, the toys all over the house, the bath water and bubbles all over the bathroom floor.  I was also hoping to squeeze a workout in.  I gave him a kiss, turned out the light and walked out of the room.  A few seconds later I heard "Mama!"  So I went back in to see what he needed.  "Lay by me, Mama" he said.  I explained that I had a lot of chores to do and that he needed to close his eyes and go to sleep.  He kept asking me to lay with him and I kept telling him why I couldn't. 

That's when it happened. As I went to give him another kiss, he wrapped his arms around my neck and said "I need you, Mama."  Ouch. Those four little words hit me like a ton of bricks.  He needs me.  I am his Mama... and he's still a baby.  In the blink of an eye he'll be all grown up and he won't want me to snuggle him anymore.  He won't ask me to lay with him, tell him stories, rub his back or bring him another drink of water.  He won't always need me to wipe his tears, kiss his ouchies, or check for monsters under the bed.   There will come a day when my little boy doesn't need me anymore.  

The dishes can wait.  The toys aren't going anywhere.  The bubbles aren't hurting anything.  This day will soon be over, and my baby will be another day older.  I can never get these days back.  Sometimes we forget to realize that these little moments with our babies are the most precious moments we'll experience in our whole lives.  They are the moments that we will miss someday when we're looking back.  Our children won't remember if the house was a mess or if the laundry was folded and put away.  But they will remember the time we spent with them.  It's the little things that matter.  

Pay close attention to your little ones.  Some of your greatest life lessons will come from them. 

Just a thought :)