Learning...

...to slow down has not been an easy task for me. To be patient has not been an easy task to learn, either. I am learning, though.

I am learning.

Just not as fast as i would like.

Emma loves, loves, LOVES to paint. She loves the colors, the feel of the paint and getting her hands, face, and anything else nearby, full of paint. And she loves to paint slowly.

S-L-O-W-L-Y.

That means, for me, sitting there. For what seems like forever....just sitting there.

One day, as i was looking out the window after i had 'finished' my painting and Emma painted on, i realized that my little artist was four years old. And, she was in preschool. I looked over at Emma, her face scrunched up in concentration as she painted, and remembered back to when she was a baby. Four short years ago, she was a baby who needed me for everything. Oh, she still needs me, but in different ways.

She can feed herself.

She can dress herself.

She can wash her hair.

She can clean off the table after dinner.

I always seem to want her to move faster, to do things quicker.

I need to stop that. Because the faster she moves, the faster time with her goes.

Blink.

She's a baby.

Blink.

She's walking.

Blink.

She's running.

Blink.

She's talking.

Blink.

She's in a Mother's Day Out program.

Blink.

She's a kitty for Halloween.

Blink.

She is hopping on Santa's lap.

Blink.

She's in preschool.

Blink.

Blink.

Blink.

So, i think that i will work even more at learning to slow down and have patience. I will walk slower with Emma, look at more rocks, collect more dirt and leaves and instead of planning what i need (or what Emma needs) to do next, i'll be in the moment i am, remembering that patience and slowing down to enjoy the world through her eyes, is truly a good thing.

I think, too, that maybe, just maybe, this is God's way of making me really see all that i have to be grateful and thankful for by walking slower, and looking at the world again WITH Emma. It's so easy to forget all of the amazing things that children and the world have to offer...

...and with Thanksgiving coming up, it's never too early to slow down and remember these things.