Goodnight Moon is the title of a wonderful, simple, lyrical children's book written by Margaret Wise Brown. I chose this as the title of our blog because I enjoy reading it to the children. I love to think about how many times I must have read this book! The rocking chair, on its fourth nursery rotation, is dinged up. The board book has corners rounded by little mouths that eagerly gummed its pages. Today, the little person on my lap is Eliana, but I have lived this moment with each of the children.
My father told me the story of a doctor who had performed many knee and hip replacements during the span of his career. When asked if doing this sort of procedure ever became boring or assembly-line, he replied that although the surgery was the same in some ways, in never failed to amaze him how each person's knee was different from all the other knees in some way. God created our human bodies to function in pretty much the same way - hearts to pump blood, neurons to send messages, tendons to attach muscle to bone. Yet each human is an individual. "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:13-14
Many aspects of parenting have become familiar: establishing a nap schedule, introducing solid food, reading Goodnight Moon. Because each child is an individual, an eternal soul who has been entrusted to me for a short time, I have the joy of discovering the differences within these common experiences. Renée liked to catch the water droplets falling from the washcloth; Eliana likes to stuff the washcloth in her mouth and suck it. Celeste has her Bear-Bear and Josiah his beloved Mimi Rabbit. Vive la différence!
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