Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Change Is Good

I had a huge face palm moment the other day, whining that nothing seems to change anymore. I love change. I love doing new things, going to new places, meeting new people. So of course, I looked back on the past 7 years of my life and complained that not much has changed. And that's when the face palm moment arrived: While I was busy being under and overwhelmed with the mundane routine of running the house and caring for the girls, I actually overlooked the magnitude of their ability to go from drooling, babbling little clingons to independent thinkers and speakers of complete sentences with big words--like "specifically" and "apparently," especially used to disagree with my wishes. Not only are they speakers of full sentences to articulate feelings, wants and needs, to ask questions, acquire things--like sweets and food, a play date, or a game--they are making arguments (and sometimes winning).

While I was engrossed with and grossed out by my duty to clean baby bottoms and save the environment(i.e. washing cloth diapers), my kids went from snoozing in bouncy chairs to crawling, to toddling, to running, climbing and jumping on furniture, stairs, and jungle gyms with great speed and even greater daring.

While my mind drew blanks at the endless question of what to make for dinner, and lingered on how much I despised cooking, my girls gained round ruddy cheeks and bellies, their cherubby bodies lengthening and their heads sprouting ever-thickening hair from mere peach fuzz to beautiful blonde tendrils reaching down to their bums. And all of this was marked by the endless boxes of clothing and shoes, socks, coats, cribs and toys that made the circuit in and out of the house. My girls have transformed in only seven years.

It occurs to me that I am living in a microcosm of change. Every milestone, every event, every day, I've been and will be witness to and a part of change. My children have grown from birth to school age in the past seven years. This was fascinating, worldview-altering change, actually.

So I get it now. Even if it's moving as slowly as geologic time. Change is everywhere.