A look of love
I watch him kick a soccer ball
Quite a feat at two feet tall
Running around so carefree
As I watch, he watches me.
He sees I'm proud of what he's done
As I smile, he has fun.
He plays the game as he knows how
He scores a goal and takes a bow.
He shares this moment with his dad
The smile he sends me makes me glad
The bond we share cannot be broken
His face tells all with words unspoken
This little man, this gift to me
I look to Heaven, silently
Thank you God for this pleasure
This gift, my son, is what I treasure.
“My patience, resolutions and beliefs are tested to the limits – sometimes daily.”*
Right at this moment one of my challenges is the constant, tuneless whistling from my elder son. When my boys were babies it was getting them to sleep or trying to figure out why they were crying. On any given day now, it might be squabbling, fighting, teasing, screaming, shouting or rudeness. Who’d be a parent? We might well question ourselves after the event, but we can’t very well put them back! Just how we find those inner resources, how we constantly demand more of ourselves, how we keep marching up that hill with a smile on our face and gladness in our heart at the sight of our ‘babies’ is one of life’s mysteries.
* © from Being Mummy by Anne‑marie Taplin published April 2007