Sometimes it takes a child to remind us what really matters…
There it sat, a giant cardboard box. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought about throwing the old thing away. It’s huge and my house is tiny, it takes up so much space and makes my house look like a homeless mess.
The stupid box makes me feel like I am inadequate as a mother and that my child is deprived.
I know it’s not true, we have plenty of expensive toys — the toy chest is full, and there are even more toys in baskets, and tubs, but I can’t seem to shake the feeling. It’s a big, giant, obnoxious box — but because of my daughter, I can’t throw it away.
The box is boring in every way to you and me but to my daughter it’s her tunnel, her castle, her treehouse, her hideaway.
It’s her place to get space when she needs it and her home to invite me into when she’s ready. It’s the first thing that she knows to be hers.
She carries a secret that, somewhere along the path, I lost:
It’s not about what it looks like from the outside.
It’s about enjoying the moment you are in.
It’s no longer about me and how the world perceives me. It’s about my daughter and her life adventure.
My job is to help her dream, to help her explore, to help her become her very best.
Suddenly this box has become everything to me too. It reminds me of what matters. The whole reason I became a mother — to help raise a child to pursue HER dreams, to be the best SHE can be.
This is what it’s all about — watching the joy in my daughter’s face as she climbs in the big obnoxious box and squeals with delight, she is exploring, learning and becoming her own person. Why would I stop this because some stranger might judge a little mess when they stop by our house?
In the end it’s not about what people see from the outside, it’s about what we know to be true because we are MOM — the one who knows our child best. This is motherhood.
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Alida, I love this story! It’s such a great reminder that our kids have so much ! One year, we gave the boys one HUGE cardboard box – filled with other cardboard boxes, cardboard wrapping paper rolls, lots of different tapes, box rivets, rubber bands, clips, recycled applesauce cups, some paint, etc. They spent MONTHS making all sorts of things out of the materials. They took up lots of space, made a mess, and were completely annoying for the adults – but the boys adored them and created whole new worlds for themselves!