Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Little Shadows on the Wall

I was just sitting with Bug (21 months) in his room getting ready for bed. He was walking back and forth bringing me piles of books to read. At one moment he was standing just so, and the night-light cast his little body's shadow very large on the wall, as large as a grown man. It was one of those moments I wish I had some sort of Terminator technology to take pictures by blinking my eyes.

That m...oment reminded me why I want to parent peacefully. This boy in front of me is a man who has not yet grown into himself, just as the tiny acorn will grow into a mighty oak. He is his own person. He deserves to be treated with the same respect and courtesy as everyone else.

He will be grown before I know it. What do I hope to have taught him by then? That if someone is younger than you, smaller than you, less experienced than you, or less able than you, it is okay to treat them as inferiors? Certainly not. I hope he remembers that he was always loved and respected no matter his age, size, experience, or ability. I hope he never accepts less from others, and I hope he treats others the same.

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