Day 137. Now and then

   When I left the block where I live my whole body told me it was going to be a good day. I looked at the sky, inhaled the fresh morning air and I knew. I just knew that something good was going to happen. I believe in premonitions you know. They might not be very scientific and I don't often feel them, but when they happen, they are real. I lost my camera after I had a premonition and today was going to be just like I expected it to be.

   I started the workday visiting some kids. Their teacher was just organizing their portfolios containing collages, drawings and paintings. She told me the parents will receive them at the end of the school year. That made me think of how amazing it must feel when the kid grows up and you show him/her this portfolio that you hid well in a box under the bed. How funny will it be to remember childhood through some scribbles, how cute will it be when the parent will start telling stories about how he/she was at the age of 3. Then I suddenly asked myself: "Where are MY works? Where are MY scribbles? I don't remember much of anything from what I liked back then or how I used to draw or paint when I was in kindergarten. I only remember that pink and green go well together and I still use that thought":) So that's how I decided. I will definitely keep all my child's works from kindergarten. I will buy a biiiig box with flowers on top and I will pile them in there and when the kid is a teen who thinks his parents don't understand him, I'll open that box and start telling him the story of how much a mother loves her child. That was my first moment of happiness for today.

   The day went by and as the hours passed I went to meet my best friend in the mall. Surpriiiiise! She brought her grandma with her:) I love her granny! She's very talkative and funny and she likes being surrounded by people. So we sat down in a cafe and started chatting about life, work, people and how the beginnings are always tough, how a woman should be independent before marrying and how friends should stick together no matter what. She's a fountain of wisdom and I always love listening to her stories and life experiences. We then went shopping together (yes, I lost the last Temptation game) and found some AMAZING things that made my day, some little pieces of me waiting to be found and picked up:) Granny was awesome at giving advices. She was young right there, with us, having fun watching us try on clothes and commenting on how teenagerish or womanly those made me look like:) She's awesome and I love spending time with her! I felt tonight was another one of those "movie moments" I feel from time to time. 

   So this is how some people or things can change a regular day into something worth remembering:) In the end, I was right. It was a terrific day:)

Day 77. Pride and prejudice

   People are different and they each have their own opinions and their own tastes. We know that already. It's the weird strong beliefs that some people have that shocked me today. 
   I announced the kids the dance class was about to start when a little girl of about 4 years old became very upset and told me she didn't want to dance because her mom thinks "dance is such a stupid thing to do" and "our Lord doesn't like us to dance". 
   Can you imagine how many times that mother had to repeat those two sentences to that little girl so that she would strongly believe in it and behave accordingly? I know how christians are. I've been there, I've done that. And I still consider myself a christian, just not a fanatic one anymore. But doing this to a child is, in my opinion, destructive. It's one thing if YOU, the adult, believe something because of your experience and the influence some people had on you and it's another thing to force your little one to believe in the same things as you do, to set boundaries so tight that he couldn't be free anymore. 
   I bet that little girl has more rules than rights and I'm honestly sorry for that. Yes, you might say: "Why does it matter if she's happy like that? Why does it matter if her parents love her and give her everything she needs to grow up and be on her own?" You know, this beautiful life God gave us each is not only about the basic needs. It's also about discovering the outer world and setting your own particular rules to guide your life around. 
   I'm amazed some people can be like that when they say they believe in a loving God. Isn't it written in the same Bible we all believe in that “I have the right to do anything, but not everything is beneficial. I have the right to do anything but I will not be mastered by anything?" (1 Corinthians 6:12) It's the purpose you set that makes it a sin. How can a little child sin while dancing? How can dance therapy be a sin or even ballet? And how can someone get to be a dancer without jumping and dancing around the room since he was so little he could barely walk? There are many people in the world who would tell you that dancing saved their life when everything else was ruined.

   But in the end, it all comes down to pride and prejudice and it's a pitty. We should think twice before acting and even three times before telling our child to stop dancing because it's a stupid thing to do. He can't make his own decisions yet so why not let him explore and know the world first and only HELP him make good decisions?

Day 11. The bond

   I know, I've talked about childhood before, but working with kids and being among them has its effects on me. I've seen a mother pick up her child in kindergarten today and she was so affectionate with her little daughter. There was surely a strong bond between the two. The girl said she liked it there and she'd come tomorrow too and her mother kissed her proudly. Then, I say: What can be more beautiful than being a mother and having a beautiful child who will light up your days? I think I'm getting old for saying this (I wouldn't have thought about it some years ago) but I bet I'll actually enjoy the adulthood we want to achieve when being little and the one grown up people say you want to avoid:) Can't wait to have my own family and my own kids!<3