Today is the Feast of the Sto. Nino. In the Gospel, Jesus called a little child to show the disciples that unless they become humble like little children, they could not enter the kingdom of God.

My own reflection: We become so stressed out and annoyed with our little ones when they get into our nerves for many reasons. Maybe they distract us with our precious time or we dismissed their antics as something of no important to us. Motherhood is a painstaking process of continued distractions from what you want to do, to the guilt of what we think we should really be doing. Difficulty in finding the balance between all the deadlines in work, non-stop chores, and tutoring them. Let us not be too quick to disregard their interest as unimportant because it may defeat our purpose of working hard. If we work hard for our kids, why are we so easily annoyed with them?

Today, maybe just for today in honor of our little ones. Let us pay attention to them. We may reckon that we have always paid attention to them since we are already homeschooling or our time is filled with raising them and stuff.  But there was this instance that I could never forget which reminded me that what we might think as giving them time, is not really what it seems.  They have a different definition.

When Josh was still in grade 5, he told me something I could never forget. “Ma, you don’t give us time any longer.” I was taken aback, hurt, and defensively said, ” I homeschool, I teach you 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. What are you talking about!” My voice at the top of my lungs.

Apparently, my homeschooling time was not really spending time with him. It wasn’t enough. I was serious when I teach him and sometimes I even get mad.  I stopped being fun and appreciative. Teaching at that time has become an obligation, a chore to finish every single day. It was a painful revelation because I felt that it was unfair for him to say that.  Realization kicked in a few days after. What they want is me, the mother – not the homeschool teacher. The mother who used to tell stories, who used to play and sing songs with them. I stopped being fun because I’m so preoccupied with getting things done that I start managing my kids like I manage chores.

But what if we really enter their world, pay attention to what they’re saying no matter how insignificant or silly or strange. Try to see things the way they do.  After all, they are the most significant people in our world.  Blessings!