All Over Their Faces

When Bergen’s feelings get hurt, everyone with eyes knows it.  His body crumples.  He usually slides to the floor. 

When Finn hears the word “no” when she wants to hear the word “yes” she turns her entire tiny body in the exact opposite direction.  She kicks her four-inch feet against the floor and pads right out of your presence.

If Mosely isn’t getting her way her arms are instantly crossed.  Her lower lip is extended and her eyebrows are knit together, cartoon-style.

None of these kids have to speak a word to communicate what they are feeling.  (Sadness.  Frustration.  Anger.)

I don’t even have to be a very observant mother to understand their signals.

And although they may not be the expressions and faces that I wish to see on my children, I think I’m grateful that they are so visible.

Charlotte Mason (my homeschooling guru/mentor/example) speaks frequently in her books about the vital importance of helping our children establish good habits.  Habits even down to the manner of our thoughts.

(Of course, that whole Biblical concept of taking every thought captive trumps anything Ms. Mason has to say.  Or, I think in this case, works hand in hand with what she has to say.)

It’s easy at this stage to know the manner of my children’s thoughts.  It’s written all over their faces.  It’s displayed in the sounds of their sighs and the heaviness of their footsteps.

It won’t always be this way.

London is daily getting more adept at controlling her visible emotions.  (She does have a tell-tale lip curl that reveals her internal struggles though.)  And Riley might just be considered a master at hiding what she really feels.

So I think I will be grateful for the opportunity these few years of visible emotions afford me.

While some of my children’s faces are still an open book, I will strive to help them learn to control the manner of their thoughts (which we know lead to actions) before the thoughts, the frustrations and the attitudes morph into hard-to-break habits.

So when those arms get crossed and the feet hit the floor and that body crumples like paper, I will be be grateful (even rejoice) that I have an unobstructed view right into their miniature hearts.