Wind and Rocks

I guess I have to start out by saying that I live in Southern AZ. I have 5 children ages 8, 7, 4, 2, and a newborn. My two daughters are the oldest and my three sons are the youngest. That's enough to be going on with for now.

Today I made the kids go out back to play. I'm so sick of all the technologies keeping them in. All I hear is, "Can I watch TV? Can I play a video game?" It's non-stop, and on a day like today I was not going to put up with it. So, I kicked them out of the house. This is when my four year old, Gabe informs me that he is afraid of the wind. WHAT? Afraid of the wind? Come now, let's not be ridiculous. So, I ask him why he's afraid of the wind. He then tells me it's because he's afraid of the dust devils. For those who don't know, a dust devil is swirling wind that comes through and throws things around a bit. They're not usually dangerous, but I guess the other day when one went sweeping through the neighborhood it rattled his nerves. So, now he won't step foot outside on a breezy day. Try rationalizing with a timid and nervous 4 year old, and see how far you get. He wouldn't go outside for any amount of bribery or threats. He would rather take a nap. That's what he ended up doing. He NEVER takes a nap. Today , however, it was preferable to going outside with the lovely breeze.

Bell and Roxy didn't have a problem playing outside after the fight to get them out there was won. After a while, Roxy starts bringing me rocks. She's 7 and rocks never lost their appeal after the age of two. I don't tell her how uninteresting rocks are to me. I just politely tell her thank you and toss them outside later when she isn't paying attention. So, today she brought me a very unextraordinary rock. "Here, Mommy." she says. "It looks purple when you bring it into the light."

It never ceases to amaze me. She can look at the roughest most uninteresting rock in the world and find something she thinks is fascinating about it. Wouldn't it be nice if we all could see the beauty in things that seem ordinary at first glance? if instead of dismissing something as not worthy of our notice we took the time too see the beauty in it? Wouldn't the world be just a little bit better?