To Be Loved By A Child

I love my boys' room. It's cluttered and littered with toys. There are all kinds of weird items on display, organized without any rhyme or reason. It's a far cry from a page in a Pottery Barn magazine. The furniture doesn't match. The toy storage organization is clearly lacking.

But it's lived in. It's enjoyed. It's loved. And I kind of love that it's not perfect. In a world dominated by Pinterest, must-have baby and kid items, and perfect baby nurseries, my boys' room is real and down to earth. In the end, how important is it going to be that your kids had $250 matching bedding sets, perfectly painted and color-coordinated walls, a toy storage system worthy of Martha Stewart, and delicate decorative items too precious to be touched? This stuff may give bragging rights to a parent. But it doesn't matter half an ounce to a child.

In the end, kids are going to remember the memories that their rooms hosted. The blanket forts. The campouts. The personalized art. Their favorite toys. Their treasure collections. The things kids will remember are necessarily the things that result in messes. So when I see the after-effects of a kid-sized tornado that has blown through their rooms, I may cringe, but I'm also thankful. Because the pillows and stuffed animals strewn across the floor, the toys stacked in odd places, and the legos dumped all over the carpet are direct evidence of memories in the making.

The famous bunk bed blanket fort

 

Treasures on display

 

Painted driftwood materpiece

 

A practically empty container with a handful of pennies and dimes (aka: an irreplaceable, one-of-a-kind piggy bank)

 

3-D art

A very special robot creation

 



 

Lego handiwork

 

A beloved, painted rock

 

Dinosaur paper plate

Another "fort" (aka: toys placed meticulously on the floor in lines)

 

The other day, I entered the boys' room to put away some clean laundry. On top of the dresser was a weird mass of paper, glue, and wooden sticks. It looked like garbage to me. A valueless pile of trash. Moments later, Jacob walked in and I asked him about the trash. His eyes lit up and his voice took on a dramatic inflection as he told me all about this art that he created.

In that moment, I felt overpowered by a wave of awe. It struck me that children have a wonderful and powerful gift. With their innocent adoration and unfiltered view of the world, they have the ability to transform any object into a treasure. Take any piece of trash, add the love and wonder of a child, and suddenly that trash has incalculable worth.

As I was pondering this thought, another hit me just as hard (and they say lightning never strikes twice). I realized that this beautiful gift applies equally to people. It only takes the love of one child to transform your entire life and outlook on the world. It only takes the love of one child to drastically increase your worth and value as a person. In the eyes of my child, I am everything. I am beautiful. I am loved. I am a treasure. I am that much more special just because HE THINKS that I am.

I am beloved. Because I am beloved by him. And soon I will be beloved by three. Triple blessed.