Hope, life, love and sweet baby cuteness

I went with my girls to visit my sister and her family this past weekend.  My sister was 38 weeks pregnant and my young neice is just under 2 years old.  Add in me and my two girls and you have a recipe for chaos :).  Fortunately the weekend moved smoothly. I was impressed with how well my neice and baby daughter got along.  They are only 1 year apart but I guess I expected a bigger gap in their interests and abilities.  It was so fun and exciting to see them fascinated with each other.  I took them for a walk in the 'new to them' double stroller and my neice was patting the baby's head and telling her, It's ok baby.  Adorable.  My older daughter was patient and fun for the two younger girls.  I had special time with each. Happy mommy / aunt weekend.  My older daughter even told me it was fun - score!

My sister is wonderful.  Caring, loving, smart, a great companion and my oldest and best friend.  Yet any woman at 9 months pregnant, is bound to be slightly cranky, haha.  We did not fight or get upset but I'm sure we each had our moments.  Nevertheless, I left for the airport on Monday wishing we lived closer and could spend more time together.  I especially wished that our children could play more regularly as I remember my cousins and I did.

Monday afternoon brought news that my sister's blood pressure was too high and she was to be induced the following morning.  The next 12 hours were fraught with anxiety, information gathering, and yes, prayer.  Thankfully the labor was relatively uneventful and baby nephew arrived safely.  He is absolutely adorable; tiny and perfect.

As I gaze at his picture, I am reminded of the hope, joy and love that such new life brings.  Tiny babies are a blessing and a wake up call rolled up into one.  This tiny person will learn everything from scratch.  We (the community or the parents) are influencing how he views the world.  As parents, this concept is not new.  We know we have tremendous responsibility and influence to the little people.  And we bemoan the fact that we no longer have such influence during those wonderful teenage years.  And of course we worry at least a little about how our actions will appear to the therapist some day!

Yet my message today is for the community.  Teachers, coaches, neighbors, family, friends, grocery store clerk, photographer, bus driver, policeman, fireman, professional athlete, nurse, doctor, dentist, stranger on the street, stranger waiting behind us in a long line, stranger on the airplane... you have influence too!  This tiny boy (and all the kids really) are watching you.  They see how you say please or thank you (or how you don't). They hear your tone and learn to read your body language.  They see how we interact with each other and with them.   They are looking to us to learn what's right and what's wrong; what's good and what's bad; what's success and what's failure.

So I respectfully ask you to use this influence for the benefit of the child and the world.  Treat others as you would like to be treated.  Smile at that small baby on the plane, even if you may be having a less relaxing flight than you hoped.  Give a word of encouragement to that mother or father dealing with a temper tantrum.  Or at least walk away before criticizing their choices.  Be polite to people as much as you can.  Use decent language, or at least bad language quietly ;).  Remember who's watching and learning so often, even when you aren't aware.   

I for one, would like to leave our children in a better place than I had.  I want them to be BETTER than me.  Common decency and respect for each other is something we do have to practice, in order to teach.  This generation is growing up in a vastly different world than we did.  But they are our hope and our future.  They may grow to be the next president, CEO, church pastor, healer, scientist, bus driver.  We need them to care about the world, themselves and each other. 

"I believe the children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be."
Whitney Houston, The Greatest Love of All lyrics