Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Witherspoon Worried

One of my favorite children's books is "Wemberly Worried" by Kevin Henkes. It is about a little girl mouse named Wemberly who worries about everything. In the story, she faces her biggest worry - her first day of school.

Sometimes, I feel like "Witherspoon Worried." I can't help it, though - it's in my genes. My grandmother, Mammaw Crisp, was a champion worrier. My mom could easily take first prize in a worrying contest, too. Now that I am a mother, I suppose it is only natural that I would carry on the worrying tradition.

So what do I worry about?? Well, pretty much anything and everything to do with my kids. Do they eat enough? sleep enough? read enough? exercise enough? Do they watch TV too much? fight too much? talk too much? I want them to have the best of everything - teachers, friends, schedules, etc.

But what does all this worrying accomplish?? Nothing productive really. I just end up feeling stressed and anxious (which my kids will probably pick up on, which will make them stressed and anxious, so now I have to worry about that, too!)

There is a song I love called "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts. Part of the chorus goes:
"My wish for you is that life becomes all that you want it to
Your dreams stay big, YOUR WORRIES STAY SMALL,
You never have to carry more than you can hold. . ."

Maybe that's why I worry - so my kids don't have to. If I carry most of the worry burden, they will never have to carry more than they can hold. If that's the case, then I will willingly carry on the worrying woes.

At the end of Henkes' story, everything turns out just fine for Wemberly. Of course, I hope everything (i.e. life) will turn out just fine for my kids and me, too. In the meantime, I'll keep worrying and if that makes me anything like my grandmother and my mother then that's o.k. with me!!


No comments:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...