Mommy Tour Guide

I think that I would like to tour Italy some day.

Actually, I know that I would really, really like it.

And I imagine that on this trip of my dreams, we would probably want to hire a tour guide…because I would want to know every interesting detail about everything and be able to ask a thousand questions, like any self-respecting American.

I would want to explore the secret tunnels underneath the Coliseum; I would want to touch the ancient stones that the ancient Romans walked on; I would want to taste all of the amazing food and see all of the amazing sights.

A new world that I know absolutely nothing about, and I want to tackle it all!  With the help of a patient and indulgent tour guide, of course.

All of these dreams of touring Italy have left me mulling over a particular thought, and not the one about figuring out how to leave next Wednesday that you’re probably expecting.  My Italy daydreams have left me daydreaming about…my preschooler.

???

My preschooler…my precious and curious little boy who is exploring this world that he knows absolutely nothing about.  And I am his tour guide.

No wonder he wants to touch everything!  Didn’t I just say that I wanted to touch the ancient paving stones in Italy?  Is it any more “legit” for me to be touching some old street, just because I want to see what it feels like, than it is for my son to want to touch every dandelion, every pebble, every dead bug that we pass in the parking lot?  I’m a lot more like a preschooler than I want to admit.

I have been so taken by the realization that I am introducing my children to everything that I’m considering making myself a Planet Earth Tour Guide Badge.  Just as a reminder.  Because in the middle of the tantrums that are literally 4 kids deep, in the middle of trying to remember every single thing that I wrote down on the grocery list that I conveniently left at home, in the middle of cleaning tee-tee puddles off of the bathroom floor and the bottoms of my own feet, it’s really easy to forget about the patient, indulgent tour guide stuff.

It’s easy to forget that preschoolers are people, too.

My son, just like I would in Italy, wants his questions answered.  He wants to know everything about everything.  He wants to feel safe and comfortable in my “knowledge” of the surroundings that he knows very little about.  And, like all of us, he wants his curiosity to be taken seriously.

Could you imagine hiring a tour guide that not only wouldn’t indulge your curiosity, but went so far as to laugh off or be annoyed by your thousand questions?  I tell you what…if I was my tour guide, I would fire my lame behind.  Fortunately, my little boy is an ever-forgiving 4-year-old who would never dream of firing his terrible-tour-guide-of-a-mommy that he loves so much.

I have been given a job that, frankly, I should find to be much more of an honor than I do.  The Almighty God made a beautiful earth.  And later, He made a beautiful and precious Mark Souers.  And I am the person that He chose to introduce Mark to everything.  My job is to answer his questions, to let him touch things (not everything!), and to be refreshed by his curiosity.

Because, you know what?  Over time, the Italian tour guides probably forget just how splendid of a home they have…until a bumbling, slightly annoying American tourist comes bee-bopping in with their jaws hanging open at the beauty.

Mommas, may your preschoolers remind you of the wonder around you.  May their questions remind you of your very honorable calling, one of a tour guide.

May we indulge their curiosity today.

Related posts that you might be interested in:

• Champion Them Rather Than Change Them
• Regrets That I Will Never Have
• As My Children Grow Older, There Are Things I Gain And Things I Give Up

Photo Credits:  here

Lauren Souers

Hi, my name is Lauren. I am the wife of one fine man and the momma of four (huge) young children – three boys and one princess! I love all of them. I mostly clean up messes and feed people all day, and it’s really fun to write about it. Jesus is the rock of my family – we love and serve a mighty King! I hope you leave here full of hope that “tired” can be good.