Stop and Smell the Roses

Have you ever thought about how much we can actually learn from our kids? I mean, it seems that we're always teaching them, showing them, training them...but really, in many ways, they have a better outlook on life than most of us. I've really been noticing this with Reese lately. Sure, she's only three and a half, but that girl knows how to live life. She's always been a "stop-and-smell-the-roses" type of gal, and frankly, sometimes it drives me crazy. I feel like I'm always saying "Hurry, Reese," or "Come on, Reese, we don't have time for that." The past few days, however, I've tried to make a conscious effort to just let her be. And you know what? It's awesome.

Last week, on one of the sunnier days, she asked if we could just go sit outside on the front steps. For some reason, my kids always want to be out front. I usually say "No, just go out back," so I don't have to just go and sit. You know, my life is soooo busy and important, I can't just go sit on a step for 10 minutes. Sheesh.

But this time, I said yes. Rhett was sleeping and Avery was at school, so it was just the two of us out there. Guess what she wanted to do? Race. With herself.


You see, Reese always loses at racing. She has a big sister who is very athletic and competitive and really has trouble letting Reese have head starts or win. So, most of the time, when the girls race, it ends with Reesie in tears, saying something like "I never get to win anything!"

But this time, she had an edge. Since she was the only one in the race, she won every time.


Here she is at the starting line....





You can see that she took this very seriously. I had to say, "Ready, set, go!" every time. After about five races, however, she started to get tired of winning. Well, maybe not tired of winning, but of racing alone. So, you're probably thinking she asked me to race with her. Nope. She wanted her friend, Shelly, to run with her.


Here she is, racing with Shelly.





Where's Shelly, you ask? You mean you can't see her? She's right there...in Reese's arms. See her? Reese is holding her as they run. Yeah, I'm serious.

Ok, so here's what I learned from Reese that day: If you can't win at something, run your own damn race. And if you don't have any friends, make one.

And if that's not enough to make you stop and think, listen to what happened yesterday:
She and Rhett were in the stroller. We were walking up to the school to get Avery. It was cold, but the sun was shining and it really was a gorgeous afternoon. Out of the blue, Reese leans forward and says "Thank you, God, for such a beautiful day."
Just like that. She just looked around at the day and thanked God for it. It almost made me cry. A second later, she quietly said "I just love you, God." That really choked me up. I cleared the lump out of my throat and said "Oh, Reesie, that's so sweet." She turned her head toward me and said "Mom, I wasn't saying that to you, I was talking to God."

What did I learn yesterday? Always thank God when the sun comes up and for goodness sakes, don't interrupt someone when they are praying.