familyties

When is the last time that you’ve taken a new perspective on the world? Its probably been a while right? It has for me at least. That was until the other day. I was channel flipping and came across a commercial that showed a baby trying their hardest to pull themselves onto a chair, only to make it and look enormously proud of themselves. I really thought about their point of view on the world. At this point, I’m embarrassed to say, I got out of my chair and down onto all fours and crawled around. Now, if my boyfriend had walked into the room at that time he would’ve had me committed, but I found a strange curiosity in it. I looked at everything in a way that I probably hadn’t done in 19 years. The TV seemed huge and the furniture looked like something a giant would be comfortable in. I cringed when I saw the dust and popcorn pieces that had rolled under my shelves, and upon going into the kitchen I sat and looked at the huge scale of the sink. I could only imagine what a child would think goes on up there…this incredible out of sight place where grown-ups toil away not letting you see what’s going on.

That led me to think about what children really do imagine that the world is sometimes. I got back on my feet and returned to my chair. When we’re that young, how do we know how to navigate in a  world where some spoons are the size of our head? How do we figure out how to get into the toy room when the door knob is two feet above our reach? When do we get the nerve to slide on our butts down huge drops called stairs? The thoughts were mind blowing to me. But then I realized that we don’t just get nerves of steel and become super toddler…instead we are taught. The giants in our lives called our guardians taught us the basics that we needed to figure everything out. They taught us how to hold a spoon without whacking ourselves on the head, and they were kind enough to lower our toys to our level. They watched over us and installed gates at the tops of stairs so that we could make sure that our legs were long enough to get us down safely. They gave us the tools, it was up to us to decide what to do with them.

We didn’t know it at the time, but we were forming a profound bond with these giants in our lives. They taught us not to be scared at night. They cuddled us when we were tired and told us stories. They reminded us as calmly as they could muster that lollipops don’t belong in our hair, but most importantly of all, they taught us that unconditional love was out there. Trust and love was a part of our lives. It was because of this that we grew confident and our self-esteem thrived. Do you think I’m wrong? Go to a home with young children and see how shy they are. They’re curious and thriving and love exploring even things that they’ve investigated a thousand times before. Why? Because their parents or guardians taught them to trust in the world. This is what makes family so special. It’s a small group of people who know that they can turn to each other, who know that there will always be someone there to help them pull something sticky out of their hair. It’s this love and faith and trust that forms  one of the greatest bonds out there.

As I sat in my chair I smiled. I reminded myself to send a note to my family. Without them, and without their love, I wouldn’t be nearly the same person that I am today. They are the most important thing, and I understand now that the bonds formed at childhood never go away, but only get stronger if we let them.  It’s this unspoken love that makes a family a family. It’s really one of the most beautiful things out there.

Satisfied and warmed by this thought, I got out of my chair to get the vacuum cleaner…darn dust bunnies….

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