Self-Acceptance in Bubbles / Lessons from Littles

Go figure! A lesson in self-acceptance came in the form of watching how my grandson’s blew bubbles. Plus, this a great excuse to share  some cute photos of my Littles with you. 😉

Bubble Your Own Way

Life lessons can be learned from the simplest of everyday activities if we will be retrospective enough to see them. I recently learned a lesson about self-acceptance in the most darling way. It was more of an observation really. It came to me while I was going through photos I had taken of my Grand-Littles blowing bubbles on Labor Day.

We had hoped for beautiful pool weather for a big holiday celebration. But cooler than usual temperatures made for a pretty cold plunge for some pretty small bodies. Yes, they DID get in the pool for a short time, but quickly came inside wrapped in towels and shivering.

In an effort to still find something fun to do outside with our group of boys that spanned in age from six to one (the six-week old wasn’t into it) 😉 , we dug through the boxes still piled up in the garage and found the supply of bubbles. I set up the miss-mash of bubble stuff on the sidewalk out back and set about showing the fellas how to use the different bubble paraphernalia.

FYI: Here’s another fun idea you can try with your grand kids this fall.

The 18 month old of course tried to lick the wand instead of blow it. But the other boys seemed to get the hang of it. Honestly though, I was outnumbered 5 to 1. I was also trying to practice with my new “fancy camera” and at the same time refill bubbles and intercept squabbles among the boys.

Jakob was busy telling on Eli – that he was pouring the bubbles out.  Ben was eager to have HIS turn to refill the bubble bucket (and why shouldn’t he), but the oldest, Jakson was monopolizing all the “turns”. Josiah was elbow deep in bubble solution and still licking bubbles off the wrong end of the bubble blower. If he didn’t have some diarrhea later, I would be shocked.

All in all, it was a super fun time. It was also chaotic as I tried to keep things in order to make sure everyone had a good time and got the most out of their bubbles. You know what I mean? I wanted them to be able to make the biggest, best and most bubbles they could have. Picture perfect!

SEEING THE FOREST FOR THE TREES

Sometimes we can’t really appreciate something until we step back and observe it as an outsider… or a grandma going through photos.  It wasn’t until I sat down to go through the photos that I noticed each boy had had their own unique way to “bubble”. No matter how much I had tried to say, “Stop pouring that out.” “Don’t walk in that.” “Let the wind catch it.” “Run with that one.” “Don’t sit in it.” “Yucky, don’t eat it.”,  each boy had played with and enjoyed his bubbles in his own way.

It seemed too messy to me that instead of blowing bubbles, Eli poured the solution from one pan to the other. Spilling more bubble solution than he kept.

Josiah preferred to be elbow deep in the bucket and see the soap bubbles on his hand.

Ben was super serious about blowing bubbles.

Jakob’s sheer joy at seeing and chasing bubbles shined through his dirty little face and magical blue eyes.

The leader of the pack Jakson, had actually orchestrated the entire event. He was the happiest to make bubbles for everyone to chase.

There was a lesson here somewhere!

These little men didn’t need me to tell them how to have fun! I had tried to show them how they were supposed to blow the bubbles but they still ended up doing it their own way.

AND…..

• They had fun.
• They didn’t even try to do it my way.
• They didn’t feel guilty about it.

A LITTLE LESSON IN SELF-ACCEPTANCE

On the road to self-acceptance you have to become self-aware. Self-awareness is looking at yourself honestly and seeing all those qualities unique to you. Self-acceptance is when you claim those qualities which aren’t detrimental to you, but bring comfort to your psyche and joy to your soul.

Somewhere along the line, we “out grew” our innate ability to think, live, play and even eat instinctively. Seeing the photo montage of these precious boys playing, reminded me to stop trying so hard to make life happen a certain way.  To not worry that my way of enjoying activities, whether it’s to be a spectator or do it my way, isn’t the right way.

I DID IT MY WAY

Saying we accept ourselves doesn’t mean that there aren’t things we need to work on. We all have habits that might need some “tweaking”. However, I have things that I do MY way, and I’ve stopped apologizing for it. Regardless of what anyone including The Hubs think about it:

• I don’t drink coffee.
• I HATE wine.
• I will NEVER run for exercise.
• I walk through the entire “line mark-off maze” at the bank or Burger King, even if there is no one else there.
• I eat Pop-Tarts with real-butter melted on the back of them.
• I’ve bucked the stainless steel appliance trend and embraced my old school white.
• I prefer old style loose sweats instead of workout tights, no matter how good they look on me 😉 because the compression makes me physically sick.
• NO, to red lipstick.
• I never want to be on a diet again, even though I’m overweight because it’s soul crushing to me.
• I can’t help but to laugh when ANYONE passes gas, no matter how inappropriate.

All of these things and more, make me unique. Honestly though, there are times it’s hard to not succumb to the pressure I feel to join trends and accept social edicts. But I’m most at peace with myself when I listen to my own inner voice and do it my way.

That’s self-acceptance.

LESSONS FROM and to LITTLES

My Littles don’t even know what self-acceptance is. I dread the day when they start to be too critical of themselves and try to “tow the line” or fit in. Self awareness is actually instinctual too, but we take it too far.

I hope that as we all realize what is is to accept ourselves, we can pass it on to our babes. They have to see us being real, genuine and self-accepting.

Watch your actions. Watch your words. And blow your bubbles your own way!

How do YOU ‘bubble’?

Paula