The Beauty of a Focused and Determined Young Mind




I really like the photo above because I feel like it shows a different side to my child.  I see this serious side in her, regularly and consistently.  Observant.  Determined.  Focused. 

In the ever-growing, ever-present world of social media, especially for those of us who “mom,” the photos loitering about seem to be nothing but picture-perfect smiles.  Cheese.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I like those too.  I perhaps like smiling, ideal children more than anything.  I work SO hard to get that perfect shot, where their eyes gleam and their cheeks beam.  “Look here, look at mommy, yes, look at the camera, [indistinguishable attention-getting sounds].”

What I also like is capturing her complete persona.  She, like a multifoliate rose, is beautifully complex and deep.  Beyond only seeing the gloriously happy, Disneyland-day, bubbliness, I appreciate that she has sides of her that are focused and determined.  She is a hard worker and adore seeing the different kind of twinkle in her eye when she is honing in on something novel.  Her vocabulary is impressive and continually growing.  Diligently pursuing the material in front of her, she tackles each bit of new information.  Words like “observant” and “analytical” might be big for someone who is only four; yet in an age appropriate way, she is completely those things.

I can take little to no credit for any of this.  This is just simply a facet her God-created self.  But this side of her certainly is beautiful, inwardly and outwardly – and I’ll celebrate that!











#AnitaVP #beautiful #Human#1 #4yearsold #focused #determined #learnnewthings #nofilter #parenting 

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Waking Up Early

Waking up early is for the birds.  And writers.  Rising early is key to beating resistance, i.e. whatever it is that keeps one from implementing his or her talents. And honestly: It. Is. Hard.  Especially with a young baby.  But… we all have our excuses.  Even though it is hard, let me tell you why I’m waking up early.  That brief bit of dark morning is the mental equivalent of a clean chalkboard.  Dark, empty, smooth.  Quietly, silently beckoning to be filled with new words.  Undisturbed and uninterrupted, the words flow most freely.  When the mind, the day, and the page are void of noise, ideas can peek over the horizon with steady beauty. Every other part of the day is inherently lacking the above-mentioned qualities.  The rest of my day will be lost to diapers, the kitchen island, and endless emails.  By evening, my brain will have morphed into an applesauce-like consistency.  And that’s alright, so long as I have captured those few morning moments to just write.
Read more

Worth The Listen: Simple Families Podcast

The concepts of simple living and minimalism have been conversation points and sources of inspiration for my husband and I for years now.   While we’re for sure a long ways a way in many regards, I think the pursuit to live more simply and with less is a noble and worthwhile one. Thanks to a Facebook group that I’m in I stumbled upon a pretty good podcast, Simple Families .   I love her approach.   Two good episodes are SFP 153: Simple Living + Free-Range Parenting with Big Kids [with Tsh Oxenreider of The Art of Simple] and SFP 169: Too Many Toys? .   I would say it’s worth the listen/checking out – I’ve definitely added a new podcast to follow! #AnitaVP #simpleliving #simplify #parenting
Read more

Project Time

2018 was a very good year to us.   I found out on Christmas Eve 2017 I was expecting, so 2018 was filled with excitement from the get-go. Since that variety of happy anticipation is hard to top, where to start off 2019 then?   Let’s begin by stating the well-known fact that resolutions are for the birds and rarely successful .   But maybe it’s time for some projects. Using the rush of energy ushered in by January to accomplish a few tasks feels more productive than resolving to change this or that. I’ll organize my office and our files.   I am realizing that I’m too old to have file folders that are this embarrassing.   Lame, but necessary. Perhaps more interesting and important is my picture book writing journey.   The next steps in my project to author published picture books are sure to be filled with ups and downs.   Probably lots of downs.   And that’s ok.   But I’ll do it.   And I’ll share it.   I’ll welcome accountability. Pop back in to hear my stories a
Read more