Blessed

"Listen earnestly to anything your kids tell you, no matter what. If you don't listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won't tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them, all of it has always been big stuff." -Catherine M. Wallace

I saw this quote somewhere (probably pinterest, because truthfully, what do I not see on pinterest?) recently. It really struck a chord with me.

I don't have children yet. That's a long time off (or at least I think it is), but I think those two sentences completely encompass the kind of parents I want my future husband and I to be. I don't want to get so caught up in the particulars or the insignificant parts of life that I miss the little details of my children's lives. I want to live in a way that shows them that no matter what is going on, they can talk to me. I'm not naïve enough to think that they will tell me everything. Of course not, but if I don't provide them with that opportunity, they're not going to want to talk to me about anything.

If I had the chance to go back in time and work at the daycare again, I would do it in a heartbeat, and there are so many things I would do differently, especially in my first two years there. This is absolutely one of those things. It's not that it would have mattered long term, I was never going to be a long-term part of any of those children's lives. It's not about that, though. It's about them knowing, for that minute, day, summer, or year, that what they said, felt, and did mattered. That their life had significance and that somebody in their life earnestly cared about them.

For the last three years, I was with the same class. I know that not all of them could or would say that I did that for them, but I would hope that at least a few of them would say, "Yeah, Miss Sarah was that person in my life when I was in elementary school. She listened to what I said and I knew that when I talked to her, she would listen to me." Even if that's only one of them. It breaks my heart to know that for some of those children, I might have been the only person that ever did listen to them, even if I didn't do it as often as I should have.

A few days before I left that job, I was thinking back over my time there. I wrote something that, for me, is probably one of the most true statements I've ever said.

"After my five years at [insert name of daycare] and three years with this class, I'd venture to say that being a friend to a child is one of the best, hardest, most fun, sweetest things in life."

Granted, my job there and my future job as a school counselor is not necessarily to be a friend to a child. But a lot of it is to be there for a child (well, children). To educate them and equip them to be healthy, happy, and productive adults. The fact that I have gotten and will (hopefully) continue to get that opportunity absolutely blows my mind, and reminds me, once again, how blessed I am.