Respect is the theme this week at Mama Says Om and the word has SO many possibilities when applied to parenting , doesn't it ?
It can mean learning a healthy self-respect which leads to confidence and self-esteem later in life. It can mean honoring one's parents and elders for the knowledge they bestow to their children and young ones. It can mean treating others the way that you want to be treated .
It can stand for the deference we show to those in authority ( that is if they live up to the job - unlike our current Presidental administration , i am NOT afraid to say ) On a more Zen note -it can also mean caring for the world we share with other living beings.
This is where i choose to pay homage this week.
My son is seventeen months old and has always seemed to be especially aware of the natural world, but lately he seems to have discovered it on another level. He gently cocks his little head to hear the cicadas whirr in the trees, he points to far-off black specks in the sky which i can barely make out to be birds , he softly caresses the stems and petals of flowers and plants on our walks.
He learned the sign for stars before he could say it and now excitedly makes the sign and says "star" with such enthusiasm i am afraid he won't be able to sleep.
He feeds our chihuahua Nooni by hand with such tenderness it almost brings tears to my eyes .( ok - it does) His new favorite 'friend' is his stuffed Panda Xiao Ling ,from our recent trip to the National Zoo . He didn't try to chase the colorful and exotic chickens at the roadside animal park like the other small children - he only squealed in delight and threw some food for them at his feet. He oohh-ed and ahhh-ed and proclaimed "wow" all day at the National Aquarium when we visited one rainy Sunday afternoon.
It is then that i realized my little son has a healthy, innate respect for Nature -even before i got a chance to 'teach' it to him.
He somehow knew to respect the world into which he was born . Maybe all children are born with this absolute pure and joyful recognition of how special our planet and our place in it is ? I don't know but i so look forward to fostering his love for Nature with every new day that opens before us.
I think he can teach me a thing or two , too.
