Parenthood

Through a Child’s Eyes

By: Petrea Hansen-Adamidis

One thing that I find grounds me in the present moment when I am having a rough day or week, is to think of what a child would do. Sometimes this brings hilarious images to mind, like the time one of my sons fell asleep with a cookie in his hand while on a car trip and woke up suddenly alert, took a bite and went back to sleep instantly! Grasping that cookie tightly in his little hand. Now that is living in the present moment!

They only seem to get stuck in the past when they are encouraged to. When we remind them about what has happened or what went wrong. When we insist that they remember not to do what they did the last time, that didn’t work out.

When I think about how children handle themselves, (without our interference that is) they pretty much will move on to the next moment if given the chance (i.e. parents aren’t nagging them). They only seem to get stuck in the past when they are “encouraged” to. When we remind them about what has happened or what went wrong. When we insist that they remember not to do what they did the last time, that didn’t work out. When we give week long consequences for something that happened within the time span of a minute, so that they don’t forget (I have not done this personally, though when caught up in the heat of the moment the thought has crossed my mind).

Please enjoy the photo montage below. I hope that it inspires you to take the perspective of a child now and again, if not for your child’s sake, for yours. There is so much we can learn from the world when we do.

http://www.offbeatfamily.com/parenting/through-a-childs-eyes/#.TkdvgQgqmos.email