On seeing the world through a newborn's eyes.

She cries.
She cries because it's her first time in this world and she doesn't understand what's going on.
She cries because she's hungry
She doesn't know what that means or how to make it better, but she knows it's bad.
She cries when I pick her up and hold her because she doesn't yet understand why I'm there and being held doesn't make her stop being hungry.
She doesn't stop crying until her hunger has been satisfied, then she sleeps until she's hungry again. Then she cries.
This goes on for a while, but one night, something changes. She cries because she's hungry, but when I pick her up, she hums.
She hums to calm herself down, because she's beginning to understand something. She's beginning to understand that when I'm there, she is safe, and the problem she's having will pass in time.
She's still hungry, but she no longer panics about it.

I often wonder what it's like to be a newborn. To go through every day not understanding the things around you. To not know what's going on, why things are the way they are, where you're going out why you're here. To be scared when you are suddenly surrounded by strange faces, and to beam with joy when you accomplish something new for the first time. To not understand why you're in pain, or how things are going to get better, but to just rely on the people you love to let you know that yes, everything is going to be okay, and you will get through what's distressing you right now, even if you can't see how.

Then I realize that maybe their experience isn't that different from my own.

Keep your weeds in water

When I was a kid, I noticed all these pretty yellow flowers growing in our yard

So I thought to myself, would be nice to pick them for my mom

It was a long time after that when I first realized dandelions are actually weeds

Of course, this didn't stop my mom from putting those weeds in a cup of water.

Another time me and a few other kids went to the park near my house

We decided to climb on top of the dugouts and sit on top

It sounded like a good idea at the time.

Then I remembered my fear of heights...

I've always felt height is a justified fear, not much can kill you quicker than height

A slight misstep can send you flying to the earth in seconds, and break you on the ground

Sometimes, height can be the scariest, most dangerous thing in the world

This was not one of those times.

The dugout was only a few feet high, even if I had fallen, I would have hardly been hurt

That did not stop me from being scared

It didn't stop me from being petrified

It didn't stop me from being too afraid to get off the top of the dugout

It didn't stop me from sending the other kids to go get my mom

I don't know what I expected her to do.

She wasn't going to bring a ladder to climb down, or a trampoline for me to land on

She wasn't going to somehow reduce the amount of height between me and the ground

Just having her there would somehow make me feel safe

Maybe instead of falling, I would feel like I could fly

Those are the mothers we should celebrate. The ones who make you feel safe.

The ones who make you feel like you can fly.

Having a child doesn't make you a great mom.

Although I have seen enough to know I'll never know what that's like

Love makes you a great mom. Love is what we celebrate on mother's day

Now I get to watch a great mom from an entirely different view

I get to watch my wifes eyes well up with pride when my daughter does something new

or well up in a different way whenever she experiences pain

I get to watch the way she loves her and cares for her.

She would do anything for her.

Some day I'll get to watch her comb her hair and tell her she's beautiful

I'll get to watch her heal her broken heart the first time some boy breaks it

(Right before I break said boys knees)

Some day I'll get to watch them make cookies together

I'll get to watch her help my daughter realize her dreams

I'll get to watch her put weeds in water.