Children: How Awesome Are They?

While most people plan for futures that include children, there's a growing number of couples and individuals who are choosing to pass on this child-rearing thing. And why not? The world is an awful place to bring children into, they cost so much money, they limit your freedom, they test your patience, they want to watch Barney, they cry, they poop, they throw up, they rebel, they're selfish, they turn your hair gray and your carpet other colors. All true. But what many of those people don't yet know is that it's all worth it...and then some.

Until you've decided to do the unselfish and open your life up to let another come in, you cannot truly appreciate what priceless treasures you get in return. Children come into the world completely dependent, with no way to reciprocate any kind of love or adoration. They do nothing to validate us, and they don't even have the ability to think beyond their own noses. They do not exist to fulfill us, rather the other way around. When you consider that this is the condition we receive them in, how marvelous is it when a newborn gazes into a parent's eyes for a long moment, or snuggles close to those they feel safest with. Gradually they become their own little people, and the fun gets "funner".

While children owe us absolutely nothing, they freely give us so much. We are their favorite people in the world, they admire us, they want to please us, and they're hugs and kisses are like little presents - presents received for no special occasion, just because of who we are.

Before having children, it would not be unusual for me to have difficulty trying to recall the last time I'd laughed. But in my four and a half years as a parent, I laugh every day - often several times. Kids are little comics of the purest kind, most of the time they don't even know they're being funny. Just being themselves, and in the most mundane of activities, they provide endless entertainment. Their best attempts at grasping the concepts of the world around them are so endearing.

I'm glad I haven't been deprived of such little delights from my 4-year-old son and 18-month-old daughter as:

-My son referring to professional wrestling as "mans are flop" (something he's only seen snippets of, by the way!)

-My son referring to a vacation as a "becation"

-My son looking at me with his precious face and telling me, "I just so love you so much, Mommy."

-My daughter snuggling her pillow cheek up to mine and hugging my neck

-my daughter attempting to sing the ABC song in her sweet little voice

-the silly dance my daughter does to the Thomas the Tank Engine song

These may seem like insignificant things to others, but they are just a few examples of the tremendous joy these little ones have brought into my life.

And sadly, joy is something that does not come easily to me.

I love to mother. I love to make my children feel secure and safe. I love to teach them what they need to know. I love to contribute to the shaping and molding of the fine adults they will grow up to be.

I love to watch them play. I love to hear their voices. I love to smell their hair after a bath. I love to cuddle on the couch with them and watch the same annoying episodes of Teletubbies and Jay Jay the Jet Plane over and over.

Children are the only true innocents, and it's quite a refreshing look into their world.

While we decided to become parents and do lots of giving, we've been doing lots of receiving as well. These children have ensured that we don't have a day without blessings. I cannot imagine living my lifetime without having experienced the wonderful phenomenon called "children".