It's The Little Things In Life That Become The Big Things

I've been thinking a lot lately about being a mother and what it means to me. And I decided that I would write about it because, well, that's just what I do. I came to realize that, overall, being a mother to me is taking care to pay attention to the little things. It's no secret that the little things in life all add up to be the big things. And, in my life, the big thing is happiness. All of these little things that KBug and I share have come together to bring us a life full of happiness and I think that is so incredibly important.

Being happy helps us to have a better relationship with one another. Do KBug and I always agree on every little thing? Of course not. She's a child. It's her job to argue and disagree, so long as she does so in a respectful manner. Does she always argue and disagree in a respectful manner? No. KBug is only seven years old and respect and tact are learned over a long period of time. She has the concept, she just doesn't always apply it. And I'm not worried about it at all because I have known many grown men and women who still don't understand how to be respectful of those around them. KBug has plenty of time and will figure it out more as she grows.

So, the main reason for this post is to talk about some of the little things that KBug and I do together that add up to our overall happiness in our home and in our lives.

I Am Your Parent
"I Am Your Parent" is a poem that I actually found on Pinterest. The moment I read it, I just knew that I wanted to find a way to incorporate it into our lives. It was just so incredibly perfect and fit our personalities just right. It goes like this:

"I am your parent,

you are my child.

I am your quiet place,

you are my wild.

I am your calm face,

you are my giggle.

I am your wait,

you are my wiggle.

I am your dinner,

you are my cupcake.

I am your bedtime,

you are my wide awake.

I am your lullaby,

you are my peek-a-boo.

I am your good night kiss,

you are my I love you."

It's a quick and easy little poem, not terribly hard to recite due to the rhyming pattern found within. So when I found it a little over a year ago, I typed it out, framed it and hung it over her bed. KBug has always loved being tucked into bed, and at that point we had begun working on memorizing some of the prayers we say routinely at church and school. Because we already had a bed time routine established with saying prayers, I decided I would just recite the poem to her after we said our prayers each night. KBug quickly caught on and began saying the last word in each sentence. It's become so important that if I'm not home when she goes to bed, she will either call me to say it or wait to sleep until I am home. It's like she can't go to sleep without it. And while it can be frustrating to come home and find her still awake an hour after she was put to bed, on the rare occasion I am not home when she goes to bed, I think it is absolutely adorable that she loves it so much.

 

Bedtime Prayers
Who would have thought that saying prayers would become such a big thing for a young child? I remember saying them when I was young, but it was never made to be important unless we were in church or we were saying grace before a meal. I will admit that the reason I began saying prayers with KBug at bedtime was purely academic. She was required to learn them for school and was having difficulties memorizing them. So I took it upon myself to add it into a part of her daily life, and she had all three that she needed to know memorized in a matter of weeks.

But saying prayers has become another one of those little things that she enjoys doing with me so much that she often refuses to say them with anyone else. Sure, someone else can take part, but she loves to say them with me. I'm not entirely certain what exactly it means to KBug that we say prayers, but it must mean something for her to be so willing to pray with me every night.

 

Pinterest

Weird, I know, but KBug loves Pinterest. If you take a look at my Pinterest boards you will see that KBug has her own board: KBug's Pinning Adventures. I'm sure you are thinking something along the lines of "What parent in their right mind would allow their seven-year-old to browse Pinterest?" and I was originally of the same mind. But KBug can be very persuasive and we were able to draft a set of rules for her use of Pinterest. KBug is very clear that she must be supervised to be on Pinterest and that she is only allowed to view the Animals and Kids sections. Thus far, KBug has been very compliant with our rules and I am happy to let her continue with her Pinning Adventures. I think she enjoys being like Mommy and doing things exactly the way I do. So, if pinning animal pictures on Pinterest makes her happy, why should I keep her from it? I can't come up with a good enough reason.

 

American Girl Dolls
When I was a little girl, my Gramma gave me my first American Girl Doll. It was a Samantha doll. I had read all of the books and she was my favorite. I loved that doll for years! I was gifted a second American Girl Doll when they came out with their twins line where you got to create a doll to look just like you. Her name was Melanie, don't ask me why. Those two dolls were my favorite possessions for the longest time and once I out grew them, we packed them up and put them safely away.

Last year I handed my American Girl Dolls down to KBug. I explained that they had been mine when I was her age and that they were very special to me. I told her that I hoped they would be very special to her and that she would treat them with the same love and respect that I did as a child.

KBug plays with them often and she loves them dearly. She is sure to remind me that they were mine when I was younger and she is taking care of them. And she has done a wonderful job of taking care of them, always putting them back in their beds and making sure they have appropriate clothes on at all times (I wasn't a fan of the all babies must be naked stage she went through when she was about 2-3).

It's been so sweet to watch her take so much care of these dolls simply because they used to be mine.

 

Mama and KBug Notebook
I wrote about creating the Mama and KBug Notebook in this post and implementing it as a form of communication between KBug and I. It was a novelty in the beginning, and she really loved the idea of writing to me whenever she wanted, but she lost interest in writing to me after a while. Now it is mostly used by me. I write to her when I'm happy with her behavior, or proud of something she's achieved. I wrote to her before I left a few weeks ago to surprise my sister for her 21st Birthday. I don't expect her to always be able to write back, or even to want to write back. But I love knowing how important it is to her that I write in the notebook and that she be able to read it whenever she likes.

 

There are a number of other little things in our lives that I know contribute to the big picture and our overall happiness, but I would be here all night if I wrote about all of them. So I will leave you with those five things because I think they are the most important in our lives. They are the things that only we share and that really help to make a difference in the relationship I have with her.

 

And I guess that's really my point. If you're always so focused on the big things, you're going to miss the moments that have the most impact. So when KBug asks me to watch her on the swings, I watch her. And when KBug asks me to dress her doll, I dress the doll. And when she asks me to play a specific song in the car, I play that song for her. Because she will remember those things as she grows up. They may seem insignificant at the time, but they will matter the most when she is older.

 

Pay attention to the little things. Don't lose sight of the precious moments you have with your child(ren). They add up and make your life memorable. And who doesn't want to be able to look back on their life when they are 90 years old and remember the great things that made your life worth living., even if they are all small.