On Being Known

Some of the best conversations with my kids happen with breath intermingling, eyelashes tickling cheeks. I see their people-ness and their goodness, as yet (mostly) unadulterated, and we talk superheroes or God or The Day. We nod in agreement about the rightness of it all. We Know each other in those moments and find belonging there. Even my sweet Ella, with undoubtedly much to say yet a brain that keeps most to herself, likes to get close and pretend to whisper her secrets to me. She too wants to be known.

It is important work to be the confidante of a child. It may not seem like it at times and can get lost in the busyness, but oh the fleeting wonder of it! It is mere seconds before I will hear my middle child ask that I read him a bedtime story for the last time. I know better than to take that for granted, yet selfishness wins out more than I care to confess.

I remember and recommit to being present in these moments so freely given, knowing that just over the horizon is a sea of "fine"s and "nothing"s. And surely those years will have their parental rewards as well; I'm just not ready for them yet.

♦