Through the eyes of a child

"MOO-OM!! LOOK AT THE GROUND. IT LOOKS LIKE GLITTER!!!” 

My daughter was in complete ecstasy, while she was waving her arms into the air. “It’s so beautiful, mom, look!!”

Although I had noticed how sparkling and pretty the ground looked, I didn’t react in complete ecstasy, the same way that my daughter did.

I looked at her and smiled. 

Something I noticed when my daughter came into this world, was how we as adults has become so used to all of our surroundings, to the point where we almost don’t notice them anymore.

During the two first years of my daughter's life, I was constantly reminded of how my daughter was learning or experiencing something for the very first time in her life.

I remember one time when my daughter was around 10 months old, and she was sitting in her baby rocking chair. She was playing with – and hitting the toys that were attached to the rocking chair, while I was cleaning her baby bottles in the kitchen. (In other words – she was making a lot of noise in the background). And this was at the beginning of summer, so I had opened the porch door, to air the apartment. 

After a few minutes, the noise stopped. So I turned around to look at my daughter, and when I looked at her, she was completely hypnotized by our curtain. 

She kept looking at it. For several minutes, she kept looking at the curtain. And I became so caught up by her focus and presence, that I had to lay down next to her, on the floor.

So, now, we were both watching the curtain.

As I laid there next to her, the curtain was moving, flowing and dancing graciously from the wind. My daughter was so mesmerized, and I did understand why. So, for the next minutes, we kept watching the curtain, who in that moment looked like an art performance.


Another time, when she was around 14 months old, we were at a playground, and my daughter was running around like a lightning. Suddenly, she stops running, and starts staring onto the ground. She had a curious and funny look on her face. Then she bends down to touch the leafs, and grabs a big, red leaf in her hand, and starts walking towards me. She stops in front of me, lifts her hands up in the air, shows me the leaf, and makes a happy “hmphmmh!” sound. (Which in Baby language translation would mean: “Look! What is this?!” )

I realized that this was possibly the first time she registered that the leafs had changed colors, or that they looked different from what she had seen during the summer. I was touched by the way she held her big, red leaf in front of me. And I also felt a bit sad. Because it made me think of how easy it is to take things for granted, and to not appreciate the beauty from our nature that we are surrounded with – every day.

I think one of the most beautiful aspects of becoming a parent, are moments like these – where you’re reminded of what it’s like, to see the world for the very first time – through the eyes of a child.

They way children think, can also be so eye opening and fascinating sometimes. For example, I remember a more recent conversation between me and my daughter, from earlier this year – when my daughter was jumping around on the floor. I told her (annoyed) that if she keeps jumping like that, soon she’ll fall through the floor.

My daughter keeps jumping excited and yells:  “Ohh!! But if I fall through the floor, and there becomes a hole in our floor, WE CAN PUT A SLIDE THROUGH THE FLOOR!! And then we can slide down, mom! THAT would be FUN!!!! ”