Clapping and Hugging: Lessons from Riley Grace
Well, Riley Grace is ONE! Actually by the time this is posted,
she’s been one for two months, but oh well! This year has flown by in a swift
blur. She’s had a busy year with lots of milestones. She’s moved to a new house
and a new preschool, traveled to Alabama a few times for family visits and a
beach vacation, and many more! I can’t believe our little girl is one. As I was
thinking back to this last year, I couldn’t help but well up with emotion at
the blessing each moment has been. The late night feedings and diaper blowouts
right before work seem like a really long time ago, but it was just a short year
ago! It never ceases to amaze me how much the Lord can teach me through
parenting Riley Grace and watching her interact with the world. These are just a
few of the things I’ve learned from watching her grow!
1.
Celebrate
accomplishments!
Riley Grace is not walking yet, but she’s trying! She crawls
at lightning speed, so she really doesn’t see a need to walk. She zooms around
in her walker and walks behind one of those push-walkers, but no walking on her
own yet. Right now she’s to the point where she’s becoming brave enough to let
go of the couch with one hand (while still holding on with the other hand). She
just stands there contemplating her next move. Her next move is either to sit
down or grab the couch again. Even though she doesn’t take a step, she sees her
courage as a huge accomplishment. She is so proud of herself for letting go
just a little bit! She looks over at whoever’s in the room to see if we
noticed. She wants us to celebrate with her. Patrick and I always make a big
deal out of these accomplishments, and we are all left with the biggest grins
on our faces as we see her delight in small accomplishments.
Do you celebrate your own accomplishments? Not in a prideful
way, but in a positive and godly way. Let me give you an example. Last week I
was struggling to wake up before work to spend some time alone with the Lord.
By the end of the week, I felt defeated because I had either succumbed to the
snooze button every morning, or Riley Grace had woken up earlier than usual
leaving me no quiet moments. So last Saturday, I woke up significantly earlier
than Riley Grace and spent some time in the Word. I had two choices at that
point: rejoice in the fact that the Lord woke me up and I actually got up OR
focus on the fact that it was only one morning out of the whole week where that
actually happened. Thankfully, I was really encouraged by that small victory
instead of being discouraged or pessimistic about the rest of my mornings that
week. So even if the accomplishment is seemingly small where you only let go of
one hand from the couch and contemplate being brave, it’s still an
accomplishment to celebrate. Be positive! Don’t be hard on yourself! Allow the
Lord to remind you of the small accomplishments, and thank Him for them!
2.
Be
joyful always!
Riley grace claps at EVERYTHING. She claps at “Frozen”. She
claps for Cheerios. She claps when she sees her favorite baby waiting in the
car seat each morning. She claps when she’s riding in the cart at WalMart. She
claps when she throws her toys out of the bathtub (a new exciting trick she’s
learned that soaks the floor…). She claps when Patrick
walks up front in the morning and when he comes home from work. She claps when
we surprise Patrick at work. She claps to the music in the car. And most of the
time, we have no idea what she’s clapping for! We’ll just hear “clap clap clap”
in the backseat as we’re driving around. She’s so cute and so cheerful! When we
start clapping with her, she gets even more excited. She immediately wants to
grab our hands and clap them for us. Now of course she’s not always joyful, but
she’s joyful a lot.
Personally, I tend to look at the negative first. Joy usually
comes way later after I realize what a pessimist I’ve been about any given
situation. That comes with trying to be realistic and inevitably worrying
instead of trusting God and finding joy. I’ve learning a lot about joy simply
by watching Riley Grace be joyful and clap at the smallest things. So, the next
time you are tempted to be negative about a situation, find something to be
joyful about instead! Even when we are facing trials, we are still blessed
beyond anything we deserve. The previous statement does not at all minimize any
real and painful trial you may be experiencing, but because we have the Lord as
our hope and strength, we know that we can also find joy in the midst of our
circumstances. Think of Riley Grace’s spontaneous clapping, and find something
to rejoice about!
3.
Love
people, and let them know!
We have a drama queen in our house. (Patrick would argue that
we have two drama queens…he always asks me where
I think she gets it from. J) Drama queens produce
very funny and memorable moments – sometimes we laugh
during the moment, but sometimes the dramatic outburst is not funny at the
moment, so we’ll laugh later… A recent funny and
adorable thing that Riley Grace has started doing comes at the most random
times. For example, tonight I had gotten her out of the bathtub and was
starting to dry her off. This is usually the most dramatic time of the day, as
she severely dislikes getting out of the tub and having to put on clothes. You
would think that it was a physically painful experience from observing this fiasco
six out of seven nights. Tonight was a rare night where there were no fits
thrown at the sound of the water draining and sight of the toys being put in
their basket. I laid her down and covered her up the towel, and this is when
she did the cutest thing ever… She put both hands
around my neck, pulled me forward, and gave me about ten kisses! She kept
pulling me forward, kissing me, and releasing her grip. She had the biggest
grin on her face as she saw my delight in this display of affection. Of course,
I was making a really big deal about it because she was so cute, so she kept
doing it. She was letting me know, “Hey mama, I love you a lot! (even when you
make me dry off and wear clothes!) I’m not gonna waste a second! I’m gonna pull
you down here right now and kiss you!” She also did this during lunch today
when I was giving her refills on Cheerios. This display of affection comes
without warning. If you know Riley Grace, you know she doesn’t love to cuddle.
She has to be really tired or really sick to let you cuddle with her. Lots of
times, I’ll go in for a kiss and she’ll push me away. Miss Independent! I guess
the kissing has to be on her own terms. J But she does love to
kiss us, and she loves to kiss her babies. She is a kissing machine recently,
and we love it!
So onto our application… obviously pulling
someone’s neck and kissing them ten times is not always the most appropriate
way to show your love for them (unless it’s your spouse!), but there are lots
of ways to show love to others that we should get into the habit of doing. Who
are you around everyday? What is their love language? Does your coworker like
gifts? Surprise her with her favorite coffee one morning. Does your mom love
words of affirmation? Write her a card letting her know something special you
appreciate about her? Is it physical touch? When your husband gets home, stop
when you’re doing, give him the biggest hug and kiss, and give him your
undivided attention. Does your sister feel loved by quality time? Take some
time out just for her, even if you have a million and one other things to do. Learn
the love language of those around you, and show them some love! Riley Grace has
learned mine! ;-)
4.
Learn
new things!
Riley Grace loves music, especially children’s songs. She
loves to clap along and dance. One of her favorites is “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”.
Now, she hasn’t mastered all of the motions, but she tries her best. Usually,
when we start singing it, she’ll stop what she’s doing and put her hands in the
air. She can’t make the spider or rain motions; she keeps her arms in the air
the whole time for “the sun comes up and dries up all the rain”. She loves that
motion, and that’s the one she can do. She keeps her hands up for the entire
song! It’s so cute! One of her friends at preschool only does the spider motion
for the whole song. They are so cute as they sing and dance along. They are
learning new things everyday!
Even as adults, we can learn new things. It may be easy to get
into a routine, but its healthy to keep your mind alert and learn new things.
Learn a new recipe. Learn a new Bible verse. Learn a new crafty thing. Learn a
new song. Don’t be afraid of failing. You will fail sometimes! Has anyone
already accomplished a Pintrest fail?? J (I painted a burlap cross as seen on Pintrest…its
in my closet under my shoes. It was that
good. At least I tried!) Learn something new, or at least have fun trying.
Riley Grace didn’t master “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”, but she has fun with the one
part she knows!
5.
Be
amazed!
Watching Riley Grace experience and notice things around her
is one of the greatest joys of my life. She is so curious and observant about
what’s going on around her. She jerks her head so fast whenever she hears a
train or a car passing. She HAS to look at it. The train usually passes our
apartment when we get home from work, so we have to stop and watch the whole
thing pass by before we go inside. She is so amazed by it. She was absolutely
amazed when she noticed that her hands and feet were connected to her own body and
could move around in cool ways. She would just sit in her car seat, hold her
hand up, and stare at it until her eyes crossed! She just recently discovered
that if she squeezes some of her bath toys, water or air will squirt out and
make bubbles. She squeezes them over and over again delighting in her new
trick. She is easily amazed!
Are you easily amazed? Think for a minute about all of the
things around you. Think of how amazing and complex creation is. God created
everything that we would need to survive. He also created things that we can
simply enjoy with the senses he’s given us. He’s given us people who love us.
He’s given us talents and gifts. He’s provided for our needs. And most of all,
He’s chosen to love us despite our failures. When we were far from Him, he
chose to love us! Wow! There are lots of things to be amazed about when we
think about the Lord! But…do we stop to think
about Him enough? If you are anything like me, you can be guilty of being too
busy to stop and contemplate God’s goodness, faithfulness, and awe-inspiring
love and blessings. Don’t be too busy for thanking and praising Him! Everything
else will pass away, but the Lord never will. Be amazed at things that you
might usually take for granted, and give thanks to God for those things!
I
hope you have enjoyed some cute stories about our adorable girl, and I hope you
can take away some small insights from how she delights in life!
Always,
Jacquelyn
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