Joys of Childhood

As I type this, my kids are playing. Dylan is playing a video game, Sydney is cheering him on, and Marlee is playing with the snail they found outside the other day. She is fascinated. She said " this snail is slow, he is racing in his mind though!" I have a snail slowly sliming its way across my beautiful wood floors, lol, but it makes them so happy. They are all three watching him, and they are just in awe. Isnt God great? All the little things he creates? Last night as I sat outside in the evening time, trying to get a little break, I smelled honey. Like honeysuckle really strongly. Now that is one of my absolute favorites smells in the world. I looked around, because I knew my honeysuckle wasnt blooming yet, and then I saw it-- the honey locust trees are blooming in the woods behind our house, They are beautiful, they smell divine, but my son is also deathly allergic to them. So it is bittersweet. That is probably what has set him off on this latest asthma attacks, etc, but for me to be able to sit there quietly and smell them and look at their beauty, it reminded me of a question dylan asked me the other day. He asked me, why did God create wasps?? I just basically told him that everything serves a purpose. While some people may think that honey locust trees are deadly, like my mom and my son, I get joy from their beautiful scent. Im sure there is some purpose for wasps, right? I love that my kids are fascinated with nature. I have tried so hard to get them to stop, and look at the littlest things. We watch ants, worms, flowers, birds, trees, anything we can find. There are many times when we are outside and the kids will say, mom come here, look at this, and I get there and it is a rock. Some people just dont have time to look at a rock. But one of the joys of childhood is being curious about your world. So I make sure to take time to look at the rock that they found. I am reading this amazing book right now, and basically it talks about slowing down, taking time to look around you, forgiving others, letting go of things that arent worth your time, simplifying not only material things, but your spirit. I am working hard on letting go of feelings that I have held onto, and letting go of material things that i have held onto. I hope it will make me a better person in the end. I hope that it will make me a better momma, and that my kids will enjoy every joy of childhood.