Too often I fall into the trap of only seeing the kids, especially the girls, in the light of the current swell of activity on any given day.
By which I mean, too often I'm just evaluating the state of their rooms, or the chores, or if they are dressed appropriately (not to sound like a Nazi, but you know, "No flip flops, it's snowing. "You cannot wear that to Mass, put on something nicer." "Your uniform is stained, find a new shirt, please." etc). It's a easy trap to step in; don't we all sulk a teeny bit when our husbands step into this very trap and stop really "looking" at us (well on our good days....)?
It's all too easy to get caught up in the surge and swell of the tidal pull of any given day. It's all too easy to stop paying attention to the fleeting nuances of expression and capturing them, both in photos and our memory.
When they were small, we did it, showing the pics off with abandon, because they were just SO cute, so beautiful. Now they are older, and it's not as seemly somehow. We are not supposed to 'go on' about our children. We want to protect them from the outside world a bit more yes, but that can then become a box of "less." It's more complicated now.
Are they not beautiful enough to comment anymore? Is this the message they internalize as we protect them from dangers outside and in?...Because so too, I tend to not want to go on about their beauty too much out loud so they don't get the "big head." Then again, it is important that they know, really know, that I see their beauty, inside and out.
But Sundays are a day to relax. A day to see again, with clear eyes. To notice the beauty given to us in this world, it surrounds us.... all too often, without our notice anymore.
I don't always manage it in my task oriented nature, but some days, for a moment or more, I do.
So, permit me to put it on the record, and go on for a moment (whether it's pc or not) about my girls.
Because I want it on the record (especially for their sake) that I see them; they are so beautiful.
My girls.
I might be biased, but, they are - simply - beautiful.
Each and every one.
(Pics courtesy of my photography nut daughter, Hannah Banana)
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