Viewing the world through the eyes of our Children

As a mum of two with one who is at school I often find myself with plenty to do to keep me busy and often leaves me unable to see past our day to day needs, this means we are often rushing places like the school run and doctors appointments. Whilst Evelyn was little this wasn't really an issue she would either be in the pushchair or in the sling and I could continue at my normal pace. However now that she can walk its all she wants to do and of course I want to encourage her so things have been taking a little while longer recently.

Whilst running some of our usually errands I realised something, I had been so busy rushing along scooping Evelyn up in my arms when we had been in a rush and she was taking a little too long looking at another leaf or stone, I hadn't really thought about how the world looks through her eyes.

The simple things that I pass each day that don't seem important to me are all brand new to Evelyn, they are interesting and fun and I had been dragging her away from all these things taking away the opportunity to explore and learn!
That tree that you pass most days might be a mighty oak with a story to tell to a child who marvels at how tall the tree is and how big the branches are that stretch up to the sky. The leaves she wants to crunch in for an extra few minutes are crunchy and beautiful with all of their different colours but we just breeze through them on our way. The noises we hear, the animals we pass and the smells we all take for granted, a child wants to know, wants to explore and whats to sense and experience what these things are and who are we to stop them. After all isn't that part of life shouldn't we be encouraging them and supporting them in finding out about the world we live in and all that it offers us.

I love hearing my children's tales of their day which may often for us adults have just been an ordinary day but for a child it could have been magical and amazing. Listening to James tell me stories of his day has made me realise I need to listen more, ask more and talk less. I want to hear about the world through his eyes and perhaps we as adults can learn something about the magic of the world through the eyes of our children.

Children can often teach us things we don't even realise we are lacking, the joys in simple things like sand in our toes the smell of fresh grass and laughter for no apparent reason. They make us realise there is beauty in the most ordinary objects and they make us realise that taking time to just breathe, enjoy and laugh can make us feel like a whole new person inside and out.

I have promised myself and the kids that from now on I will try and leave a little more time for our journey so that we can appreciate the world together. I want to crunch in the leaves, marvel at the trees, stare at the swooping birds and appreciate the daisies that we see each day. Just because we see something all of the time doesn't make it any less special. I want to make our journeys adventures as each day is a new adventure for a toddler like Evelyn and hand in hand we will enjoy it together.

Have you ever thought about how the world must appear to your child?

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