if you can remember

i can't believe pete started back to school already! today was his 1st official day. wow! what a summer we've had! i'm fully convinced that every family needs to be home all together for an extended length of time. not just for all the projects and completed 'to-do lists' but for the connection and the fun. our summer has been full of all of those things, but what i have loved the most is the connection, the re-falling in love with pete all over again because i was able to see and re-visit all of his ways day after day without them getting lost in the too short days of work and endless responsibilities. what a simple and perfect life he has given me. the longer we are married the more i can see what a match we are, how much we need each other.

sorry, i digress. the point of the post started out to be a reminder to me of the mindset shift that need to takes place now that i'm going back to mostly solo parenting again. our boys are our life, and i'm constantly feeling the pressure to not screw them up. i know you can only give and do so much in a day to advance the cause of fostering happy and peaceful children. in the end it's their choice anyways. however, i love this reminder of their perspective. i hope to have this be my motivation for all that i do with my boys in the upcoming months of parenting. i borrowed the reminder from the lovely blog beauty that moves. i loved the picture so much that she attached with this poem that i wanted to include here, too, even though it's no one i know. good luck with your upcoming school year whatever you will be doing!


If You Can Remember

If you can remember that it takes three of my steps to equal one of yours;

If you understand that I must view life at an eye level three feet below yours;

If you can touch my life with your faith, without taking away my need for self-determination;

Then I can grow, learn, and become.

~ ~ ~

If you can remember that it takes time for me to gain the experience in living you have already had;

If you can understand that I can only relate to those things which have meaning on my levels of maturity;

If you can let me take a step of independence when I can, instead of thrusting me out or pulling me back;

If you can touch my life with your hope, without destroying my sense of reality;

Then I can grow, learn and become.

~ ~ ~

If you can remember that it takes courage for me to try again after failure, just like you;

If you can let me find my own path when I want, instead of choosing for me the way you think I should go;

If you can touch my life with your love, without taking away the space I need to breathe;

Then I can grow, learn and become.

~ ~ ~

Marti King For The Montessori Foundation