My brother and I would often catch my mom staring at us.
We would be playing, dancing, walking or even eating and she would be gazing at us. Now this was never a lost thinking about something look. It was always a freaky ” I’m looking at everything you do ” look.
I never understood.
At any social event I always knew she was watching. She knew what I was doing when. If I was behaving badly, I turned around and sure enough her eyes would grow stern and I changed my track.
I don’t know when it started but I’m sure I noticed it first in my teens and she still does it. This look that made me prickle all over, feeling like I’m the only one in the room and I need to do what I’m doing perfectly, at least how she wants it done.
It felt intrusive and unnecessary. It irritated us. ” We often snapped at her to ” cut it out ” or ” Stop staring ” or if we just stopping what we were doing.
I never understood.
Till one day I read these lines …
‘ My parents watch me constantly. Everything I do fascinates them. It’s like I’m doing it for the first time. The adoration is the same as when I started walking … ‘
It clicked!
I watch my children constantly. It is almost like a guilty pleasure. I write down everything they do, small conversations, disappointments, celebrate the little moments. How I felt, how they smiled, what they ate, how they looked. I never want to forget what I had witnessed and cherished. At social events, if I can’t see them, my ears are listening for their sounds. Every single thing they do is special because for me, these people that I created are doing many of those things for the very first time.
I flew back to all those moments when mom stared. It wasn’t sternness she felt or perfection she desired. It was just her love! Her desire to see us. She watched us to embed those moments into her memories. The fact that she ended up bringing us up with values is a happy coincidence.
So, if you are young and find someone who truly loves you staring at you, be easy on them. You mean the world to them and everything you do is magical to them because for them the fact that you exist makes their life beautiful!
That’s what I’m going to tell my children when they gripe, ” Why is grandma staring at us? ”
I know now more than ever that children grow up so fast. I try and soak in all the moments- staring at them constantly taking it all in.
Awww yes , they sure are fascinating !! Thank you for stopping ny
This is sweet. I like the idea of writing down little things that my son does. He’s changing so much every day, it will be nice to have reminders and memories written down in the future.
Please do. You surprise yourself with the amount of things you forget as they grow … And re reading those precious memories is priceless
I do watch everything they do with fascination, pride, love! Don’t they say that half of being a parent is listening to someone say “Mommy, watch this!” We’re watching alright!
Yes we are .. Every moment, every turn.
Watching our children playing, sleeping, playing sports is all the great part of being a parent. Now we understand why our mom stared at us.
Yes … You can only understand once you go through it yourself . Thank you for stopping by
I can really relate to this! I know I stare at my kids… and they say stop staring. But I’m just trying to be present in the moment and hold it in my memory forever.
I’m so glad you feel that you can relate! Thank you for stopping by.
So observant! Yeah, I stare at my kid all the time. Good that she doesn’t find it weird (yet) and stares me back.
So sweet, <3
Thank you !!!