Nothing is more rewarding than witnessing children learn and grow. Especially when it’s your children. Being able to see children sprout from the knowledge they’ve learned, or getting to see them laugh at the most random things, always puts a smile on my face. Knowing that children are beautiful creations and gifts from God helps me understand just how important they are.
Why Does it Mean So Much to Me When I Witness Happy Moments?
Growing up, I was always a very emotional child; ever since I can remember, when someone I loved cried, I would get teary-eyed as well. I would say that I could feel what other people were feeling in a way. My heart is tender, or so I’ve been told. I once thought that was a bad thing, as it made me emotional pretty much all of the time. Now that I’ve grown up, matured, gained more understanding of the world, and am more in tune with God, I now know that my tender heart is a gift.
Whenever I am saddened about something, I cry. If I am upset, guess what, I cry. If I am overwhelmed, stressed, anxious, nervous… I cry. Even sometimes when I am happy and excited, I cry. Crying is a way that I myself am able to express what I am feeling. It’s how my body responds and how it gets my feelings out. Crying is the body’s natural response to these major emotions we all feel from time to time in our lives. I think I just feel them a little bit more than the average person, and I am completely okay with that. It’s taken me a long time to accept that, but with the help of my husband and my little girls, I know that it’s important to understand our bodies and know how they express emotions.
Especially now that I am a mom, I have gained more respect and love for myself in the way I feel things. Mostly because I want my children to know that feelings are real, those emotions are just as important to feel as any other, and to know that it’s okay to cry. When/If I ever have a boy, I would want him to know the same things, and to never be ashamed of it.
How Can Memories Help Shape Our Family?
These moments melt my heart. These memories that we are creating as a family have influenced the way I feel things and have shaped my personality and self-confidence. Don’t get me wrong, there are some days I still struggle, but for the most part, I take these moments and hold on tight. Being able to teach something such as understanding our emotions reminds me to do the same with myself and my husband. It’s hard as a mom/wife sometimes to teach something, and then remember to do it myself.
As parents, we teach our children to apologize when they have hurt someone, whether it be an accident or on purpose, we say “I’m Sorry.” This has been something we are trying to implement into their lives, as there are going to be many opportunities in their lives as they grow up where they will need to apologize. I find myself holding back an apology a little longer than I should at times. I expect it from others, but then I don’t reciprocate it back as quickly as I probably should. That is something that I continue to work on each day, as I make mistakes daily. I am by no means perfect, but I strive to be a little better each day.
Lately, E has been really good about telling me and Ethan how much she loves us. She will randomly come up to us and say loudly, “I love you!” We then, in turn, tell her, “I love you sooooo much!” It’s a constant thing we say around the house, and even though it’s said often, it never loses value. It melts my Mama heart so much, I wish I could just bottle up her little sentences and save them forever. Luckily, thanks to the growing technology, I can do that by taking photos/videos. I will always have those, and I find myself watching older videos from when she was a baby already. How fast the time has flown, and that too melts my heart.
Why Do Our Children Emulate Our Actions?
How is it that children are incredibly observant, willing, and have the strongest desire to learn greater than anyone else on the planet? It’s probably because they are so desperate to be like their mom, their dad, their older siblings, their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and even their friends. Little kids crave knowledge, they crave independence, and they crave attention. Doesn’t that sound a little bit like an adult, too? I may only be speaking about myself, but I highly doubt that. Adults want knowledge, independence, and attention as well. It’s part of our human nature so that we can thrive in society. We are also considered children. We are children to our earthly parents, to our grandparents, and most importantly, to our Heavenly Father. We are each still learning things every day.
Do you have any moments in your life that you have looked at someone (mostly talking about children) and said to yourself, “Awe, how sweet,” “He/She makes me smile,” “They are all so cute!” If you’ve said any of these phrases or thought them, you’ve probably felt the intense feeling of a melted heart. It’s an idiomatic phrase that means a person is feeling affection, sympathy, and love in their heart.
What Is One Memory I Love?
One specific moment that melted my heart was when one day, E was feeling pretty yucky, I let her take a nap in our bed for a little while, as she only wanted to sleep closer to me (it was in the middle of the day). She had a little accident, so of course I helped change her clothes. As I was putting on clean sheets on our bed, she came upstairs. She turns to me and says, “Thank you for helping me.”
Though it was such a small thing for her to say, and I will gladly take care of her needs no matter what, she understood the importance of saying thank you, even though it wasn’t necessary. Sometimes saying thank you can make up the whole difference a person needs to feel appreciated. Saying thank you shows a person that you care, that you love them, and appreciate them.
Here are some little moments that have melted my heart:
- E grabbed her little backpack and toy truck, walked towards the stairs, and said, “Bye, mom!” I asked where she was going and she told me, “I’m going to school.” I told her to have fun. She then walked down the stairs and came right back up.
- I was making breakfast, and E is in the living room. She points to me and says, “Mama, I love you!”
- We were out on the deck, E was at one end, I was on the other holding baby U. We counted to five and ran towards each other. E and baby U were laughing so much.
- Baby U has started sitting up on her own, and we put little blankets around her to protect her if she falls over. E has now started wrapping a blanket around baby U just to make sure she doesn’t fall and get hurt. She does this without being asked and wants to make sure baby U is safe.
- E wants to share everything with baby U. She tries to share her food, toys, drinks, and snacks.
- Baby U started giving little hugs when we were getting ready for bed. One night, we asked E if she wanted to give baby U a love, and she said yes. She came up to baby U, and baby U wrapped her arms around E. Baby U is not even 8 months old yet, and it was the sweetest little embrace.
I have so many more little moments that melt my heart. Things that happen every single day. It’s fun getting to raise little ones of our own. Some days are harder than others, and some days are super simple and straightforward. No matter what, I wouldn’t change it for the world. They are all, and they constantly find ways to make us smile, laugh, and overall melt our hearts. Every moment with them is a blessing. I’m grateful to be a mom and be able to experience the many moments that melt my heart. What moments with people you know and love have melted your heart?
“I saw that you were perfect, and so I loved you. Then I saw that you were not perfect, and I loved you even more.”
McKenna Sanders
The Mom, Wife, Dream Life Blog
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