My Children

Kaylee 6yrs, Kendon 2yrs, Peter 4yrs

Kirk Martin wrote in a Celebrate Calm newsletter, that when we let go of our anxiety, and calm ourselves down, we will see our children blossom, and their true nature begin to surface.

My children are beautiful.  Every day, I watch them become even more so.  I see, not myself, but divinity shining from their eyes.  I can only watch and wonder how such simple, yet complex beauty is created.

Kaylee is a prodigy at arranging things to make them look pleasing to the eye. This was a year ago.  She's even better now.

 Kaylee.  Powerful.  Passionate.  Precious.  Kaylee learned early in life to hold feelings in. Now she is learning to open up, cry, let her heart be touched.  She was hurt the most by the philosophies of the world.  She knows deep down, by her own experience in her life, the healing power of Jesus Christ.  She and I went through it together.  We cried together, we clung to each other during the hard days, we smiled through tears as the healing began, and we promised we would never forget.   

  She is like a rare flower, that if you try to grasp, will immediately close up and hide.  She will shine and sparkle, only if she is left alone.  She is capable of hard work.  Determination and grit rush to her face as she strengthens her arms, her legs, her stomach.  She dances with heart, putting her all into every movement.  If she feels she is not perfect, she is hard on herself.  In her I see an angel who has taken the form of a human, determined to find her former glory.  When she is disobedient, it is usually for that reason.  She is trying to find her power, test her own strength, and become her own powerful person.

Her blue eyes sparkle when she laughs.  They peer deeply into my soul when she is learning, and cloud over when she is hurt.

Peter

What can I say about my middle child?  He is compassionate, loving, and strives to be constantly obedient.  He loves the Lord, and often sings His praises. He is very smart.  He isn't in a hurry, EVER.  He seems to understand that rushing through life causes us to miss important details.  Sometimes, he has to remind me.  He is very detail oriented.  He surprises us as he learns how to draw things on his own, with surprising detail for a 4 year old.  We took a walk through an atrium once.  He discovered each plant, learned their names, asked questions about them,  found a praying mantis, and not only wanted to learn all the details about what it eats and where it lives, but wanted to tell a story about it, guessing at what it might be thinking and feeling.  He talked on and on, and drew me into a detailed conversation on the matter.  He asks so many questions...why? what? where? when? who? how many?  With oh so many follow up questions.  His questions are as never-ending as his curiosity.   Is it any wonder that his favorite TV show is Go Diego Go!?  He loves the learning as much as the excitement.  He loves to be read to, and cannot go to sleep without a story.  He has a really hard time sleeping.  He wakes easily, and lies in bed thinking, drawing, or telling stories to himself for long hours.  He can retell a story he's heard only a couple of times, with astonishing detail.

He loves to run, climb, and play, and is currently learning to skip.  He couldn't skip at first.  So he galloped.  But he finally has started to figure it out on his own.  He's not especially fast, or coordinated, but not clumsy either. His build is small, and he gets very upset when he can't do things as fast or as well as his sister.

 He wants to understand the world.  He wants to understand people and their relationships, why Mom and Dad are sometimes inconsistent, why we humans hurt each other, and thinks it's exciting that he loves his sister, even though he sometimes gets mad at her!

He love, love, loves animals of all kinds. This Thanksgiving he said he was thankful for 

1. Worms-because they help the Earth.

2. Roly Poly Bugs-because they're good-guy bugs. They don't bite.

3. Butterflies because they help plants grow.

4. Giraffes because they're really tall, and have really long tongues, and eat the leaves of trees.

5. Mom and Dad because they love me.

6. Jesus--He made everything.

Kendon:

Kendon is my baby.  He is my child that I followed my instincts with.  He is the only one that I have little to no regrets about.  I still nurse him occasionally, he's two and a half now.  He has never been spanked.  He is obedient and loving.  He loves his Mama!  He loves his Daddy too, and grandparents and nursery teachers, but most of all, his Mama!  He mimics everyone but has a will of his own.  

He is my right hand.  He helps me do laundry, dishes, peck on the computer, (ahem,) cooking, mopping, talking on the phone, he is my shadow, constantly learning, for good or for bad.  He talks and talks like an older child.  He wants to be exactly like his big brother.  He doesn't know he's small. He is very sharp, and is difficult to fool.  He is inquisitive like Peter, but in a different way. He asks questions to determine what to expect, to establish certainty in his life.  

He is happy and loves to laugh.  He runs, falls, and gets up and runs again saying, "I'm okay."  He loves to communicate.  He sometimes gets upset, because his whole life, his older siblings have dominated all conversation.  He now asserts himself, and says, "Kaylee!  or Peter!  I'm not finished!!  Mommy, can I talk now?"

He is starting to want to potty train.  He wants to be big like Peter and Kaylee.  But when we talk about "No more milks" (nursing) he insists he's still a baby.  

Kendon is assertive, more than the other kids were.  He is willing to reach out and explore, as long as he knows I am always going to be there when he comes back to me.  He is not bothered any more if I leave him with Grandma, because he's figured out that Mommy always comes back.  Sometimes he is shy and won't speak to anyone but Mommy, and other times he summons his courage and speaks.  Many people are amazed after getting to know us that Kendon can speak almost as well as the other kids.  Still, in my heart he is my baby.  I am protective of that relationship, and I will not leave him for more than a day.  I have such a close connection with him that one day recently I was thinking about something, and he started to say aloud what I was thinking!