Dear Kids (A reflection from a greying Mama’s Heart)

Dear Kids

Whilst no parent has all the answers and whilst this mama is constantly, still learning, know this for sure:

1. You are never alone
2. Travel is the best teacher
3. “No” is a good word. Use it often. It’s particularly lovely when there’s a dead silence and you offer no explanations
4. “Please” and “thank you” never goes out of fashion
5. Water heals. Oceans. Tears. 2 litres a day
6. You have a built-built in “people” radar. Please listen to its beep beep beep when something feels offish
7. Sleep is medicine
8. Play, play, play. Never stop playing
9. Less sugar, less screen time, more grass, more laughs
10. God is inside you and no one one has a special hotline that you need to go through
11. Betrayal is painful. Nothing can prepare you for that kick in the groin
12. Go out and explore. You can always come home to cry
13. Try and remember who you were before the world started pinning its labels on you
14. Your body is beautiful. Exactly as is. Explore it. Admire it. Treat it right and it will reward you so much
15. No one knows it all
16. Blood makes you related. Loyalty makes you family
17. Believe in magic. Those who don’t, never find it
18. Your word is your honour. Do what you say you will. Always
19. A grateful heart is a magnet for miracles
20. Give freely. Of what you have. Of your time. And quietly please
21. No one likes a show-off
22. Learn to listen. To God’s voice in the early morning. To yourself. Certainly to people who you trust
23. Shortcuts never work
24. People will forget what you say but they will never forget how you made them FEEL. Be kind
25. Books, music, thunderstorms and tea are good for lonesome days when you need your mama
26. Abundance and prosperity are your birth right
27. Look beyond the labels of race and religion, gender and social standing. How people treat people from whom they need nothing is where you should focus your scoring and grading
28. Jealousy is when you count other people’s blessings instead of your own
29. Love does not need to hurt
30. Speak your truth. Even when your voice shakes
31. What sets your soul on fire? Go there
32. Learning is constant
33. Messing up is okay. Intentionally hurting someone never is
34. You teach people how to treat you
35. You may have one “true love” or many or even none. Remember that you are whole anyway
36. You have a story that only YOU can tell

 

xoxo

Mama

 

© Aluta continua, as they say.  A Heart Full of Stories, 2017

Dear Children: This Life is Messy

Dear Children,

 

Yes, this life is messy.

 

One moment you’re getting a gold star for helping your teacher, the next your heart is breaking because your only friend chose someone else for their birthday ring.

 

Yes, crap is hard. I know.

 

And, I know that the books tell you how the hard moments are supposed to make you stronger but gosh, that doesn’t make the pain easier to bear. Right? I know.

 

The little things ARE the big things. They leave a dent, a mark, a stain that you have to live with long after the fall. Right? I know.

 

But, here’s the thing:

I’ll tell you what my own mother taught (not told) me: this life IS indeed messy but it is in that exact messiness that you will find your own unique talents, gifts, strengths. Those moments will reveal to you a survival kit of wisdom that you did not even know came standard with your model.

 

So yes, the “grown ups” around you may not have all the answers you seek, but you do happen to have front row seats to the messiness that is their lives and I assure you, you will learn simply by watching.
Aluta Continua, as they say. This life is indeed messy, but that’s how the rainbows reveal themselves. And rainbows are all around. I know. 

 

© A Heart Full of Stories, 2017  Full copyright and all media rights reserved.

 

(And “grown ups”, we ALL need reminding now and then that we cannot (unfortunately) teach our children that which we are not living every day. Those little eyes and ears are learning everything about this life from watching us. Horror! But yes, that’s a story for another day…The only thing we can do is live honestly, authentically, transparently however “messy” that happens to be)