I took my three kids to the National Zoo and was pointing out all the interesting animals and exhibits. I came upon the enclosure marked “Cheetah” only to discover that there were none to be seen. As I was scanning the enclosure looking for the cheetah, the children looked into the enclosure and found that there was a small pond immediately on the other side of the fence. There were frogs in the pond, plenty of them! There were goldfish in the pond. There was a dragonfly that flitted from reed to reed. At the end of the day, with all the other exhibits they saw, the children actually spent the most amount of time at the “Cheetah” enclosure enjoying what WAS there without looking for what should have been, but wasn’t. They delighted in each new frog that was discovered. They enjoyed watching the fish swim about. The dragonflies became fairies about which they made up stories as they walked to the next exhibit. I found myself wondering how often I spent more time looking for the "Cheetah" when the frogs, fish, and dragonflies were there for my enjoyment. I looked in the rear view mirror – trained on my now-sleeping kids, not traffic – and wondered how often I looked for the Cheetah when it came to them. What were all the things a five year old girl should be? A three year old? A husband? A marriage? In particular I wondered about my darling one year old daughter who has Down Syndrome. I thought that perhaps the cheetah would have been impressive, but from now on, I was going to look for thing that weren't on the lable and enjoy frogs, fish, and dragonfairies.
Evelyn James,
Parenting Coach :-)
