I love my children. I love being with them. I think of all those mothers who are not with their children and it makes me so sad. Because I know what they are missing. While they are at work outside the home, they miss so much. There are the “big” milestones: rolling over, sitting up, crawling, walking. But what about the other things? The little things that aren’t talked about, but are just as important and precious?
The first smile on your daughters face. Even if it is not directed at you, you are there to see it, not hear about it. The first time your son really examines his hands. They look so intently at their palms and fingers, just inches away from their face. And they are so serious it make you want to laugh! Or the first time your daughter realizes that her foot is part of her. Maybe she has put it in her mouth and really clamps down hard on it. Ouch! Her startled expression is priceless, as her big eyes begin to swell with tears, and she looks at you as if to say, “Hey! That hurt!”. When your son starts to play with his tongue and is testing it out. You stick your tongue out and he begins to copy you. What fun it is to make faces at each other! There will come a time when your daughter becomes aware that she has a voice and she will start to experiment with it. She opens her mouth, letting sound come out. You put your finger over her lips and vibrate gently, making the sound become like “waves”. Oh, how this makes her giggle and laugh! Once your son begins to crawl, you gently roll a ball away from him and watch as he scampers away to get it. Once he has it, he puts it in his mouth and gives it a good bite! Then he sticks out his sweet, pudgy, wet fingers towards you and you take the ball from him and roll it away again.
Tell me, how many of things do you think happen for the first time, between the hours of 5 pm and bedtime? Don’t you think the majority will happen when mother is away at work and baby is with someone else?
These are only a few of the “small” things that mothers are missing every day. I realize there are some situations where the mother can not stay home with her chid(ren). But in most, she chooses it. And many husbands want their wives to work outside the home, not realizing (or caring?) that this is not what the Lord teaches us wives and mothers. He teaches us to be keepers at home, to teach our children, to support our husbands ( not financially, but emotionally, physically, spiritually). It is just a sad, sad state of affairs that we live in.
I have four children, ages 6.5, 4.5, 2.5, and 13 months ( and .5 in utero!). I have so many sweet, precious memories of all of them that a life time worth of pay checks would not come near the importance of them all. Yes, I have my bad days and yes, it can get lonesome. But I’m never without something to do!
Life is about choice and priorities. If you choose to have children, choose to put them first and foremost. And this means putting them before your pay check.
Proverbs 31:28