Before I was a wife and mother, I was a nanny. I’ll confess that though I find them physically exhausting, preschoolers are among my favorite people. One of the biggest things I miss about spending my days with a child is seeing life through their eyes. Children look at things so freshly. They view everything for the first time…they notice the details that we overlook. They see beauty and find joy in what we have come to consider common.
Our friend, S.D. Smith wrote a wonderful piece this week in the Rabbit Room. http://www.rabbitroom.com/2012/01/the-sad-evaporation-of-wonder-and-its-ancient-antidote/
In his post he expresses the idea that being thankful is the pathway to recovering wonder. I love this idea and have spent time dwelling on it over the past couple of days. In counting my blessings, I’ve indeed found a renewed sense of joy, awe and wonder…
I remember when Ian was about two and I took him to an indoor playground one dark winter day. (Yes, in Minnesota it’s very necessary to have indoor playgrounds :-). It was his first time there and being an only child, he dearly loved to watch other children. He was content, no, he was delighted to play near them. Though he hesitated to play with them, he watched, listened and copied them. Squeals of laughter rang from him as he would race over, flinging himself at me and thank me for the fun he was having. That was his first trip there, but it wasn’t his last.
His thankfulness flowed out of his joy.
When Tom and I were first dating we loved to go to concerts, we still do. Acoustic artists with a folk or pop sound have consistently been our favorites. In those early years we loved Lowen & Navarro. One of their songs has danced in my mind today…
Through A Child’s Eyes…by Eric Lowen and Dan Navarro 1995
“Throw back your head and laugh again you make me glad to be alive!
I feel the weight of a thousand heartaches leave me with your simple smile.
So many changes I’ve been through completely faded from my view.
I saw you through a child’s eyes and all your innocence came into my life now my darkest night is coming to an end since I began to see through a child’s eyes again.
When did I let go of the part of me that used to live for everyday?
Cos it’s been too long now that I have grown, I’ve gotten lost along the way.
You turned the pages back for me, to the way I used to be.
I saw you through a child’s eyes and all your innocence came into my life now my darkest night is coming to an end since I began to see through a child’s eyes again.”
Yes, the view through a child’s eyes is filled with awe and wonder – oh to see things with such clarity again!

