Children: Naughty or Nice?

Have you ever noticed how much easier, and so much more enjoyable it is to Play with children than it is to just 'mind' or 'watch' them?   The truth is that I never much enjoyed babysitting when I was a teenager.   I did it occasionally for pocket money, but always pined to be off reading a book by myself, and longed for the children's parents to get home!  

But actually playing and interacting with little ones is, I was happy to find, a completely different experience!  Teaching them, tickling them, talking and interacting  with them in ways that they love is Wonderful, exciting, and Fun! 

I was speaking with a young mother about our experiences of being at home with small children, (mine from long ago; her's recent).  We agreed that we had been greatly surprised by how much easier and more positive it was than we had anticipated.  By a long way.  We hadn't known there would be so much Joy and so much fun.  Or that meeting the challenge each day would be such a pleasant experience.  That there would be so much happiness in watching everything our little ones did.  So much wonder at how adorable they are, almost all the time.  I remember having a feeling almost constantly that the whole world should be watching each moment with me!  That anyone not there with me right then was missing out.  Of how special and precious each little look, and grimace and coo is.  Of how rewarding and fulfilling this time is.  Of how Grateful I was to be having that experience.

I know not everyone feels that way.   I think that if you are resistant and wanting to give it all a miss, (like me when I was babysitting), it's no fun at all!  If all you want is to finish reading that book, (or otherwise veg. out, get some work done, or go to the bathroom alone), then it's frustrating that you can't whenever you want to.  If your choice is for selfishness, (and I mean that objectively and not critically) as opposed to addressing yourself whole-heartedly and full-time to your role as wife, mother and home-maker - then being at home, alone, with small children, can be pretty awful!

The irony is that if you choose instead to truly embrace these roles, your days are so much Happier.  Not least because your children are so much more secure and cheerful when they have a mother who is truly devoted to them and their home and family.  Selfless service does equal Joy, just as the Saviour taught.  Losing yourself in service does equal finding yourself in the best way, just as the Saviour taught.

Like most things in life, it's actually easier to do it well than it is to do it badly!