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<\/p>\nLucy is definitely starting to focus more on our faces these days, and every once in a while we get a hint of a smile. Her newfound responsiveness, however minimal, is a welcome addition to her facial vocabulary! But I am glad for these weeks of caring for pre-smile Lucy. I think I’ve learned a lot about love. <\/p>\n
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It has been a new experience to care for and love someone who can’t give me any positive feedback. Most of the time it doesn’t really matter; Lucy is so cute that you can’t help but love her, even if she would rather look at the venetian blinds than your face. But I can’t claim I’m not looking forward to the day she cracks a big grin when I walk in the door.<\/p>\n
This has been really good practice for what I hope will be a long life of loving Lucy unconditionally. When she is two years old and inclined to tantrums, or when she is settled into a non-communicative teenager phase, hopefully I’ll remember the lessons of these weeks and be able to love her no matter what. <\/p>\n
It seems to me that it is a pretty important thing for a kid to know that their actions don’t affect a parent’s love. Equally important is the parent’s own emotional security — their ability to not depend on the child’s response to feel good about themselves. This is a pretty tall order at times. Even now, when I know that Lucy’s cries are usually about something non-emotional like “I’m hungry” or “I’m tired,” it is easy to jump to “I’m a good mom” or “I’m a bad mom” depending on how she responds to my soothing or problem-solving techniques. <\/p>\n
Hmm… Do you think God is good at parenting — loving unconditionally, being secure in himself? :) I have a lot to learn from him. I’d really like to be like him as a mom, especially so that Lucy can recognize God’s love better. “Oh, God must love me and forgive me easily because I know Mama and Papa do, and how much more awesome is God than them?”<\/p>\n
It is my hope that Lucy will feel so loved and cherished in our family that she’ll be free to become the woman God has created her to be. And I hope, too, that God will help me to become more like him so that I can be the best mom for Lucy that I can be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lucy is definitely starting to focus more on our faces these days, and every once in a while we get a hint of a smile. Her newfound responsiveness, however minimal, is a welcome addition to her facial vocabulary! But I am glad for these weeks of caring for pre-smile Lucy. I think I’ve learned a … <\/p>\n