Do you ever feel like you are too close to your kids to really see them?
I was holding the screeching monkey today and remembering how nostalgic I felt about Sweet boy’s toddler days until I was back in the thick of it with the little guy. I forgot how exhausting and challenging daily life with a toddler can be.
It reminds me of Gulliver’s Travels. Remember how in Brobdingnag, where the people are huge and Gulliver a Tom Thumb, that a woman’s “monstrous breast,” 16 feet in circumference with a nipple the size of Gulliver’s head, is so spattered with giant spots, pimples and freckles “that nothing could be more nauseous?”
This object of great beauty, when seen too closely, became instead a distorted image. Isn’t this true of our kids at times? When you are in the hot pan of daily drama, they too can seem a bit monstrous!
Mamas need breaks. A few hours away from my wild monkey and I see him more clearly, through loving eyes rather than the filter of my own frustration. In all relationships, we need times of quiet, perspective and introspection. As busy mamas, creating the time is both difficult and necessary.
So, the next time your vision wavers and instead of a precious child, you see a monstrous beast in front of you, step back and step away! Like poor Gulliver, you might just be too close.
:’ D
this is so funny and true! sometimes just looking at my kids standing with another person a few feet away gives me that distanced perspective where i notice how tiny and precious they look standing next to their dad or whoever. they can seem like giant monsters when they’re right “on” me for extended periods. regular breaks are so key…