Staring at the Sun
“Have you ever seen anything in your life more wonderful?” ~Mary Oliver, The Sun
Posts from the ‘Parenting’ Category
Apr 9
Why I was Smiling Today
While shelving books at my son’s school library yesterday, I got caught up in a biography: “Dr. Seuss from Then to Now.” Rather than check it out, I read a few pages and put it back thinking I should probably search instead for something my 7-year-old would be more interested in. No one saw me reading this book and I never mentioned it to my son. Today he had it in his backpack 🙂 When I discovered it he said, “I checked it out for you because I know how much you like Dr. Seuss.” It was a wonderful coincidence that he found this title among hundreds of books and brought it home to me the very day after I had been immersed in it. The first words I ever read on my own were in a Dr. Seuss book and he remembered me telling him that. I can even recall one of the places I first realized I was reading fast and fluently–it was in the doctor’s office! My two brothers and I spent many days in the family doctor’s waiting room and it was packed with reading material. Dr. Seuss books and Highlights magazines were among my favorites. I had to smile recently while listening to a TV news story featuring parents complaining about germs on books for kids in doctors’ offices.
Farewell Winter!
Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems. ~Ranier Maria Rilke
On Grace and Presence
I have a photograph I like to say depicts my “I love you” look. It was taken by my son Nathaniel, and it preserved a pure moment when the world’s noise hushed into soft silence and love embraced my soul like a warm blanket. It shows in the eyes, I think. I’m always searching for that same purity in my son’s expression or my husband’s embrace. It’s there, flickering amid thousands of silent, tender graces each day. I don’t want to miss a single one. As I write this, I am recalling a moment last week when my son filed into the school library with his kindergarten class for story time. I work in this library each week, interacting with kids of all ages. I continue to be grateful for this opportunity, as it fulfills something within me that is difficult to express. I only recently discovered that this need, this persistent desire to connect with these children goes beyond simply wanting to “help out” as I told myself at the beginning of the school year. I needed this job almost as one needs water or food to survive. It makes me feel vital, needed, connected, loved. It’s that important to me. When my son’s class arrived to hear the story, I realized it was the first time my own child was in the library as I went about my usual book-shelving, front desk-working routine. We couldn’t stop to say hello or talk; he had to stay with his class, and I had to keep on with my work. What struck me was the way his eyes followed me around the room the entire time as I pushed the book cart and went about my business. I’d catch him peeking over the shelves and smiling brightly when he knew I was looking back. He blew a kiss or two and I doubt he heard a single word of the librarian’s story that day. Later he excitedly told me, “I just liked having you there.” He’s the same when my husband participates in school events, proudly grasping his Daddy’s hand and leading him through the rooms and halls where he spends his days learning the ropes of life. In a few weeks my husband will spend more time with him at school, participating in a special program called “Watchdog Dads” in which fathers spend the school day with their sons. I know lots of parents who fear and fret over their failures-some real, others perceived. It is my prevailing belief that long after we’re “Mommy” and “Daddy” our son will always need our presence, and we’ll need his. I have no doubt our lives will continue to be touched and fueled by this most powerful, unconditional love. And grace.
Visual Clarity 