Big Feet – Little Feet

My little girls love shoes, I mean they really love shoes. Sometimes I will walk into my room and see my two year old wearing my shoes trying to take a step. Sometimes she’ll make it a few paces before tumbling down with a big laugh. She doesn’t quite fill my shoes yet (and physically for her sake I hope she never does).

Then I look at both of their little shoes, still smaller than my hand. Same function, just much much smaller and long ways to grow. The same can be said of their emotional shoes, same function, just a long way to grow. I sometimes catch my self trying to reason with my four year as if she was wearing my 10 1/2 running shoes (yes I own running shoes). Though her shoes are made for running and dancing she can’t run as far or as fast as I can. Thus I can’t expect her to have as much control over her emotions as I do. She has to grow into her emotions and learn to understand them and how to react and control them. Frankly there a lot of adults that have not learned to do this.

My job as a parent is to leave footprints of control and knowledge for them to jump in. Ocassionally these prints will get washed away by tides of frustration and lack of self control. There will be times I take a wrong step or two. In those times I am to get back on the right path and leave steps they can follow, steps that lead them to discover who they are suppossed to be. At some point in their life and mine they will no longer follow my steps, but step off onto their own path that walks next to mine. My prayer is that the steps they follow of mine will lead them to a loving and rewarding life that their kids will follow and so on. One small step for me and legacy of steps to follow.