From your regular, average, everyday "Mary Poppins"
Since I've last blogged (maybe 4 years ago?!) lots of things have happened.
I graduated from college, re-devoted my life to Christ, traveled to some beautiful places on the East Coast (and flew on my first ever airplane) and experienced some truely magical stage moments!
I got to "Follow My Heart" in Urinetown as Hope my final semester of college...
I got to "Be a Clown" and have all the class in Cole with Kaleidoscope Theater...
I got to fly (!!!) in Peter Pan as Wendy at Art Park... which was probably the most magical stage moment ever...
and I got to sing to the heavens with a high E flat in "Pirates of Penzance" as Mabel with the Aurora Players (I did not break the window glass, however... though I was asked to try....)
As for the Mary Poppins thing; I'm a full time nanny for 7 (total) children (not all at once!).
I have learned a lot from the little stinkers, and most of the time they are super fun to hang out with.
5 amazing life lessons I have learned from nannying:
Stand your ground, be True to yourself & Make the wise choice
-It's okay to be the only one dancing! It's a crazy world, and a lot of what "seems good" is actually really bad, what seems true is really false, and whats "not fair" is actually quite just. Just because something seems cool, doesn't mean you have to do it. It's okay to say "No" and not feel bad about it. Everyone is going through something but that doesnt mean you have to diminish your own feelings because you think someone elses problems are bigger than yours. Do the right thing. And if you don't know the right thing, discuss it with someone who you know has wisdom.
There is always an exception to "the rule"
-Life is fluid, and things change... times change... you learn new things and new opportunities are presented to you. Nothing on this earth lasts forever, and ultimatiums are harsh and hard to justify. Not all mammals are warm blooded and the number of days in a year fluxuates every 4 years... so Yes, stand your ground, do what you know in your heart is right... but sometimes---
If you can't beat 'em... join 'em
-Face it. You can't always be right! The minute you realize you were wrong, apologize, or give someone a hug... life is too short to hold onto grudges, and the weight of being wrong is so much heavier than admitting you were wrong. Then, join in the party! Sometimes life is exhausting and all you want to do is sleep and people keep jumping on you to go out and play and you're not in the mood and you'd rather eat chocolate and cry, and those people weren't even nice to you two minutes ago.... but hey... YOU'RE ALWAYS GOING TO BE EXHAUSTED... you might as well be exhausted and playing a princess-cowboy and duck-duck-goose outside in the sunshine.... Sharing is caring, and it CAN be fun!
Your identity is presented very early in life, you just have to choose to accept it.
-This is sortof specific to nannying, because everyday I get to experience youth, and watch personalities develop. Just a few days ago, a baby was born that I had the opportunity to hold less than 72 hours after he was introduced to the world. As I held him I just watched his tiny face, his tiny eyes trying to make out what he was seeing, without words to help him understand the things he saw... and yet I saw a quiet sort of wisdom in that... In the first two years of a healthy babies life, they learn to eat, see, crawl, walk, talk, create... they learn how to manipulate you, how to fight back... they learn letters and how to count... how to identify people without seeing them in person... they have complex feelings, their feelings get hurt and they understand what love (and alternatively abandonment) feels like. Nurture is a huge part of the development of all this and a wise mentor who sees your potential is definately very helpful to be the best person you can be... that being said-- nobody can tell you what to do... and just because you are good at something or perfect for something doesn't mean it is the right path. A conversation I had with a friend recently ended something like this: "Just because I am good at crafts and know where everything is at Hobby Lobby doesn't mean that I should work there...". It sounds silly, but that conversation really stuck with me. Your destiny is more spiritual than what you are good at. I'll leave it at that for now.
Forgiveness doesn't mean you are going to allow someone to keep hurting you, it means that you choose to forget how they've wronged you in the past.
-This is huge as a nanny. For me and the kids. They are still learning how to share, and I don't know how many times a day I have to say "no running in the kitchen,""no climbing on the sofa," "we don't hit people," and the list goes on and on...
It was only recently that I noticed one of my three year olds secretly pretending to color with a red crayon on one of my 2 year olds back... as soon as she caught my eye, she stopped and said "Remember when she hit me?!"... as though coloring on the 2 year olds back was revenge for when she got hit earlier in the day....
This concept was hard for me to digest. For my heart, 3 years old is much to young to be thinking revengeful thoughts like that... so we had to have a conversation.
There are a lot of things that hit me really fast about this. Things I have heard before, but were put into simple terms for me.
Just because someone says they are sorry, doesnt mean they won't do it again. In fact, usually, they will hurt you again... however, the right thing to do is move on. A wise monkey once said "The past can hurt... you can either run from it... or learn from it."
Sometimes, it's okay to do both.
Everyone deserves a second chance.
If you know someone is going to hurt you again, after you've given them a second chance... learn from it...forget about it... and walk away. Sometimes...that is forgiveness. Revenge is not.
Thanks, kids.
For now,
Princess Blueberry.
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