I absolutely love the current age of my two children. My daughter is six and my son is four. They are in their princess and superhero phases.
My daughter will wear mismatched clothes with sparkles and jewels. She will pull out a tutu from when she was two years old and put on some glitter lip-gloss and show up to any event with so much confidence. She is not embarrassed.
My son is in his superhero phase right now. Everything is an imaginary laser for him to zap. He is a superhero who rescues and executes important missions in his pajamas. He is a Pre-K student by day and Spider-Man by night.
I look at them sometimes and wonder when it happens. When do they start caring what everyone else thinks and start noticing that others are watching? When do they begin to stop being so little? When does it happen that their innocence is robbed by the outside world? When will they stop being confident in their mismatched clothes and pajamas on a Saturday afternoon?
There is so much to be learned and appreciated about little children. They look at the outside world and assume the best outcome. When does life creep in for us as adults that we stop doing that? We so closely monitor their interactions with others both in-person and on screens that they don’t know the dangers and evils of the world around them.
I know one day it will happen slowly. I know one day they won’t be so little. I know there will come a time when they won’t be so innocent and will know things about the world and people that I wish they didn’t. I know there will be a day that they are aware of the evils of the world. I hope when that day comes that they realize Jesus is the only way and cling to Him.
They might not always be this little and unaware of the world around them. There will probably come a day sooner than I wish that they will care what others think. There will be a time that there will be less glitter and fewer Transformers in my living room.
As much as I know those days will come, I think if we stopped a bit and looked at how little children interact with the world and each other that we could learn a lot about our own lives. If we cared a little less about what others thought about us and assumed things would end up being for the best rather than brace for the worst, we would be a lot happier. Maybe we don’t need to constantly be going as fast as we always are all the time. It’s OK to slow down a bit and care a little less what people think.
I know this stage won’t last forever, but I hope they stay a princess and a superhero for a little while longer.
Megan Rathz is a wife, mother, and teacher. She says everything she has ever learned in life came from her Master Gardener mother.