Big Boys and Babies

My mother has often told me that when I was born (their first child) they no longer needed a television.  I was all the entertainment they needed.  I am a baby watcher as well.  Actually, I get great enjoyment out of watching all my children, no matter the age. 

 

Top of my list to watch, are the interactions between my big boys and my youngest children.  In my opinion, babies and big boys are an awesome combination.  They bring out the absolute best in each other. 

 

Watching my 12 year old Nathan reading to 3 year old Sophia, or playing with her on the floor with the wooden train is so sweet to see.  Watching 14 year old Jacob play a very rousing and "macho" game of peekaboo on the couch with 11 month old David gets us all smiling.  David never enjoys peekaboo with me the way he enjoys it with Jacob.  Sophia and Jacob have a special relationship that began when she was tiny.  Sophia calls all of her big brothers, "her boys."  She loves them so much.  It's always fun to watch the older boys playing out on the trampoline with their younger sisters, or chasing them around on their hands and knees.  Today I watched David's face light up like nothing else when Benjamin, 17, lifted him high into the air balanced on one hand.  It gave my heart a bit of a workout, but David thought it was better than Disneyland.
 

 

Having babies in the house gives my big boys many opportunities each day to offer service and a helping hand.  The little ones come to them often to ask for a drink, or "Can you cut my apple," or "Can you get this zipper unstuck?"  The little ones ask countless questions each day and my big boys humor them and give them answers.  They smile and exclaim in awe and amazement when Sophie comes down dressed up and says, "I'm a ballerina today!" 
  

No matter how tired, or frustrated, or weary from a long day, the boys always have a smile and a cheerful hello for the little ones.  I love to hear the loving baby talk tone they use when they talk to them.  Little ones bring out the softer side of my boys.  And the fun loving nature of my boys is so appreciated by the babies.  Brothers are much more exciting and fun than their mother. 

 

I've often felt that my last two children came at just the right time for Jacob and Nathan.  At this time in their young lives, Sophia and David are "just what the doctor prescribed."  Jacob told me the other day that he enjoys how Sophie and David just love and adore him; they are never critical and judgmental.  They just love him unconditionally.  It's true.  Little children are like that aren't they?  They demonstrate that true love of Christ without any effort.
 

I'm grateful that my big boys have opportunities every day to appreciate the innocence and love of little children, and to understand why the scriptures admonish us "older folks" to be like little children.

 

In the June 2000 Ensign, First Presidency message, President Thomas S. Monson said,

 

"…may the laughter of children gladden our hearts. May the faith of children soothe our souls. May the love of children prompt our deeds. “Children are an heritage of the Lord.”  May our Heavenly Father ever bless these sweet souls, these special friends of the Master."

You Are Special

Tonight we took the family to a sweet presentation at our local elementary school.  It was a musical/dance interpretation of the book "You are Special" by Max Lucado.  We are friends with the talented teacher who organized it, and her son and daughter, who wrote the music for the production, are friends of our children.  It was an extremely touching presentation. 

If you are unfamiliar with the story, here is a summary.  The Wemmicks are puppets who live out their days in their village putting stars and dots on one another.  The stars are like "praise" and the dots are "criticism."  Some puppets are covered in stars while some poor puppets have nothing but dots.  Punchinello is one of those unfortunate puppets.  He can never seem to do anything right and is covered in dots.  But one day he meets Lucia.  She is different than all the other puppets.  She has neither stars nor dots sticking to her.  In fact, if someone tries to give her a star or a dot, it just falls off.  And yet she seems so happy.  Punchinello is intrigued and asks why the stickers don't stick to her.  She tells him that it is because she goes to visit the Eli the woodcarver every day.  The woodcarver is the one who made each and every puppet.  Punchinello decides to visit Eli himself and learns some important truths. 

He learns that Eli, the woodcarver, values him no matter what others in the village may think.  Punchinello asks him, "Why do I matter to you?"  Eli says, "Because you're mine, That's why you matter to me."  He asks Eli why the stickers don't stick to Lucia.  Eli tells him that they don't stick because Lucia has realized that what the woodcarver thinks about her is more important than what anybody else thinks.  "The more you trust MY love, the less you care about their stickers."

As Punchinello leaves, Eli tells him one last, very important thing,

"Remember, you are special because I made you, and I don't make mistakes."

When Punchinello internalizes this last comment and realizes its truth, a dot falls off of him onto the ground.

What a beautiful story for my children, and for me too.  I started to cry as  the girl playing Lucia danced in such a free and beautiful way.  I could see how knowing what she knows can help all of us to live our own lives in more free and beautiful ways.  When we realize ourselves and can help our children realize that their true worth comes from being children of God, and that what he thinks is more important than what the world thinks, we have something truly special in our lives. 

Way back in 1973, in the April General Conference, in a talk entitled "In His Strength",Elder Marvin J. Ashton said,

"In the kingdom of our Heavenly Father no man is a nobody."

He also said,

"To mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, and children everywhere, we declare that regardless of your present station in life you are someone special.  Remember, you may be an obscure boy, girl, man, or woman, but you are not a "nobody."

Playing With Our Food

Today for breakfast we made a fun treat - idea posted on Facebook by my aunt.  Sophia particularly had fun with her "car."  As she ate different parts off the car she continually rebuilt it to make something new.