It's officially summer! The weather is hot and sticky.
Everyday seems to be accompanied by a "chance of scattered
thunderstorms." And my bedtime song for The Kid seems entirely incorrect (the
sun is at rest? Nuh-uh). Summer and I have a love/hate relationship. Well, I
guess I don't know how summer feels about my, but I love and hate summer. Though I've gotta say, with the new job perks of
air conditioning and a pool, I'm loving this summer a lot more than hating.
The Kid and I ventured into the pool for the first time this
week after a long and frustrating process of switching it over to a saltwater
pool (I didn't even know that was possible, but apparently it's a thing here on
the Island). She loves the pool, and (nanny bonus!!!) it seems to tire her out
just enough so that she goes down for naps and bedtime like a dream.
The Kid was, not surprisingly, very excited as we prepped
for our first adventure in the pool. I got her all decked out in her super
cute, leopard print swimsuit, and then we head down to my apartment for me to
don my swimsuit. Now, this is part of my hate for summer--swimsuits. For all of
you who know me (which I'm pretty sure is everyone who reads this blog) and for
all of you who just saw the picture above, it will come as no shock to you that
I definitely do not have a "swimsuit ready" body. And while I am
normally comfortable enough with myself, swimsuits, I'm pretty sure, were
created for the sole purpose of making even the skinniest of women
self-conscious. Nevertheless, I love the water, so on went the swimsuit. As I
adjusted the straps of the suit with a grimace, I was quite surprised to hear
The Kid squeal out with glee, hands flailing in the air with excitement
"You're gonna look so pretty in the pool, Jojo! You look so pretty right now!"
I related this tale to my dear friend Liz after she told me
about her eight-year-old brother who replied to her comment that she was being
a silly girl with "No, Sissy, you are perfect and beautiful." Liz's
response to our separate but similar stories was "This is innocence for
you. The world hasn't taught them to see beauty yet. They see it without the
world's ideas."
They see beauty without the world's (often false) ideas.
A friend once commented on a picture I posted on Facebook
complimenting me on my ability to "marvel at a child's world" and
"see through a child's eyes." Those words were such a blessing to
read (and not just because she told me that my future children would be richly
blessed to have me as their mother). They were a blessing because there is
something wonderful about the way a child sees the world, and I am honored to
think that in some ways, I can still see that way. Even Jesus told his
followers to have faith like a child. There is just something unique about a
child's worldview.
I'm hoping to see a lot through a child's eyes this summer.
Maybe I will come to love summer even more and hate it a lot less. I want to
find beauty in the sunshine, in the clouds, in the blue skies, in the sand, in
the heat, in the "chance of scattered thunderstorms," and in the
squeal of children jumping into pools and racing through sprinklers. And I want
to find beauty in people and tell them when I see it. Sometimes I think that as
firm believers in "total depravity" of man, we tend to overlook the
fact that all humans are still created by and in the image of God, and in them
there is often beauty.
Yes, even in overweight nannies forced into skin tight
swimsuits.
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