My five year old kept asking me to make snowflakes to hang from our curtain rod over our kitchen window. After a year we still do not have curtains there and it does look bare. I kept putting it off.
Finally, we had lunch, I put my little one down for his nap and I said “Okay. Let’s make snowflakes.”
He got out all kinds of colored paper (including black!). I tried to encourage him to make white snowflakes, or at least blue since it’s the holidays and I wanted it to look nice.
But he had other plans.
He wanted orange, yellow, purple, black, brown and red. None of which would look nice with our holiday decorations. He snuggled up on my lap to help me cut them out. He then chose a different, equally unmatching, ribbon to hang each one.
As he sat in my lap and we made our snowflakes, I realized a snowflake isn’t just a snowflake. He had been asking for days and really he probably just wanted this time together and to be held.
We made 10 snowflakes and hung them from the window. I put aside my inner Martha Stewart and my urge to have them be perfect and we admired them. He was very proud of his work.
I am very glad he was persistent. I have resisted taking them down and instead look at them as a reminder to make time for the little things in life. Like cutting out snowflakes. Even with black paper, lol.
Nicole is the creator and editor of Mind over Messy. When she lost her mom suddenly 11 years ago, she made the decision to be really present and treat life as a precious resource. Bringing mindfulness to what she did was an easy progression until she remembered she had two small, spirited boys making it feel impossible to think at times. Mind over Messy was born of the desire to get the quiet connection we need to stay centered, in the messiness of real life.
Welcome! Our modern lives can be so hectic that it is so helpful to find easier ways to get a healthy meal on the table, meditate even if the kids are loud, and stay active any way that we can fit it in. This blog is dedicated to making Mindful Living Easier.