Our kids make us better people!

Beci Newton - 17 Mar 16

They do.

Seriously. Go look at the earliest photos of you and your children.

So new, so innocent and so unprepared for life.

You that is, not the tiny infant.

In that moment you had no idea what you were about to embark on. How much you would learn about yourself and how much you would change.

In my first photo with my son he is breastfeeding. Something that proved pretty tricky for something that’s supposed to be natural (Who knew?!) I certainly learned a lot about the real me in my first months of motherhood, like how much I loved sleep etc…. Also in those crazy days I started to learn more about nutrition. Arming myself ready to take on weaning. I wanted to make things right for him, and in that I started to make better choices for myself too.

You taught me to respect my body and be grateful for the food we have. 

Moving on from newborn days we have all the firsts. Those little advent windows of the children they are quickly becoming. First smile, clap, craw, steps and words. All such normal achievements of childhood, but miraculous none the less. Did I marvel before then at how wonderfully complex our bodies are? How magical just being human can be?

You taught me to be thankful for the abilities I all too often take for granted. 

Neither of my children developed at the “correct” rate of course, they often jump started or held back on when all the baby books (aka pages of lies) said they would do things. Lessons in patience were learnt. But also the realisation that all things happen in nature, just as they should. Like flowers, we all unfold only when we are ready.

You taught me to slow down, to stop chasing and live more in the moment. 

Watching my children grow and become part of this world, they have made me reflect all the more on the place that they will one day take in it. My gentle sons kindness, my funny daughters fearlessness. They make me explode with love and pride daily. But what of the world that they will take over? Did I ask these questions before?

You helped me find confidence in myself, to raise my voice for what I believe in – to make this world better for you. 

Kids are always smiling in their photos. They don’t hate their smiles or worry that their outfit isn’t on point. They hug their friends tightly, they love the things they like, they dance in their pants and they always speak the truth. They see beauty in all things and find excitement in the mundane. They open us up to worlds we never knew existed…

You make me smile, love and see more than I could EVER have imagined. 

So.

What lessons have you learned from your small people?

How did they help make you better?

For all these little lessons and more. For all the ways you make me better. Thank you to my small humans.

You are the greatest teachers and life coaches I’ve ever had.

Beci Newton

Mother of two. Wife of one. Other titles include firefighter, cheese lover, outdoorsy, chatty and annoying.

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