Horton Hears *Wisdom

Parenting should be listed in the Webster's Dictionary with a footnote that reads, *Prepare to be amazed!*. I always find it so refreshing to hear and witness the wisdom that our children bring to our lives. The other day I was chatting with a good friend and she was sharing a brief conversational exchange that she and her eldest child had. My friend was doing the usual household chore of folding clean clothes. She is a mother of three (ages 7, 2 and 4 months). Her daughter of age 7 walks into the room and asks her, "Mom, don't you hear that my baby brother is crying?", My friend responds, "Yeah, I do" and her daughter comes back with "Well, I think you should go pick him up because he's more important than what you're doing right now". As my friend is sharing this story with me, I smile and think how very connected and aware children really are when we don't allow adults, media or other sources of disconnect to interfere with their natural state of 'in the moment'. A seven year old little girl was able to 'know' that mundane chores or less pertinent tasks did not trump the fact that her infant sibling needed his mother.

The problem here is that we adults get caught up in the everyday 'rat race' of doing more than we can manage at the expense of brushing our children's needs aside (even if its for 5 minutes). Those five minutes could have been a moment of discovery to your child, or an instant second of a new thought that occurred to them, or a simple "I wanted to say, I love you", or "can you give me a hug?", or "I simply want to be held now". Every moment has a genuine opportunity for us to be 'in the moment' with our children. At times we allow our 'authority' to over shadow the true wisdom and insights our children bring to our lives. The classic 'because I said so" inevitably crushes their spirit and opens up other ways for them to snatch our attention. And not necessarily in positive ways for them to attain it. We forget that our children have great ideas, look at the world differently, view our actions with a different veil, and can ultimately bring us closer to the 'now' and less from a 'wandering' mind. Their voice matters and as parents, the best attention that we can give them is acknowledging their thoughts and opinions. We like to be heard. So do they. We love to share thoughts. So do they. We love to have our own opinions. So do they.

The most insightful children's story that shares this message is our beloved Dr. Seuss', "Horton Hears a Who". It's a great story for the entire family and a wonderful way to explain to our children that everyone has a voice, everyone matters and that we all have to respect one another in order to be respected. Our children will model who we are. If they are bullied, they will in turn, bully others. If they are disrespected, they will in turn, disrespect others. If their voice isn't heard, they will in turn, ignore the important aspects of their lives by shutting out the voices that do matter, including their own. If we impart compassion, they will be compassionate. If we stop to listen, they will stop to listen to us. So, at the end of the day we must remember that our children carry wisdom that can shed some light on our lives because as Horton stated, "a person's a person, no matter how small".