Wise Beyond Years

My soon to be, seven year old, was having a lot of frustration when it came to his homework. He has such a hard time focusing, and I actually feel bad, that after school, I have to force him to do it more, instead of letting his mind relax for awhile. He is beginning to learn how to read, something that really does not come easy to this little guy. He said "Mom, is this really important?" and I of course responded with "Of course, it is, very very important." He looked at me for a moment, a little perplexed. "Is it the most important thing in the world?" I of course said "Yes, it definitely is one of the most important things." He then, without any hesitation replied, "No mom, Love, is the most important thing in the world. It is the ONLY most important thing." I sat back for a moment, and realized, Wow, that was amazing. A spark of clarity, from my 6 year old. It came so easily to him, even though he was so frustrated.

I know it was off topic as far as reading goes, but how true of a statement. I of course reassured him, that he was correct, but then being the typical american parent said "But, if you ever want to get done with school, have a job, and buy a house of your own, reading and writing, is one of the most important things, in school, to learn." I actually kind of feel like I stifled him at that remark.

We as adults put so much importance on the things we know we have to achieve as we get older, and how we need to get there, that we feel we have to pound these ideas into the heads of our children. He is going to learn all of this anyway, he has to in order to get from grade to grade. But, how often do we really instill the idea, that LOVE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING?! We feel as if we are doing the right things as parents, if we drill our kids with their learning, I think it is such an important factor to us, because it is the only thing as adults, that we are sure of explaining. The only real rule, that we feel we are able to enforce. But, here is my brilliant, and loving son, bringing me my spark of clarity, in such a beautiful way. That saying is true, "Out of the mouths of babes." We really need to listen to them more often, I find that they sometimes have a lot more wisdom than I do. Because they aren't afraid to shut off their worrying brains, and just "be."