What do you want to be when you grow up?

All my life I have adored children. Since I was a child, really. A favorite aunt and uncle of mine had a family of 17 children (yes, I said 17 children) and I liked nothing better than to stay with them when we made our trips from St. Louis to Kansas City. There were other related families in that area, but my choice was always the largest one. My closest cousin was in that family, true, but also, there was always a baby and a toddler to hold, play with and tote around. My aunt and uncle were the most patient people I think I have ever known (go figure) and I loved to listen to them interact with their kids. If a child came to my aunt while she was busy doing something else (which she always was) with a minor bump, feelings ruffled by minor altercation with a sibling, or even something as simple as "I can't find my teddy", her response was always a calm, "I'm sorry". They may have hung around another minute or two, or hugged her legs if she was standing, and then they were on their way, back to playing and being children. I find myself, to this day, employing that response to children, at home or school, who need to vent a small problem, one that doesn't real need a solution, just an ear and a kind response from a caring adult. It's a miracle cure for many small child ailments.

So, I was called "baby crazy" by other members of my family (who weren't). It always hurts, a bit, to be labeled as something, by someone who doesn't share your passion, but it didn't dim my love of babies and small children. Apparently, my calling was not to be deterred.

I suppose my beloved aunt could have, understandably used the expression that has become a humorous catch phrase in our culture, "Who are all these children. and why are they calling me mom?" I don't think she would have, had it even occurred to her. But it is the name of my meager attempt at beginning a blog. My life has been filled with children from that day to this. Not all of them calling me Mom. Some calling me by my name, in a number of adorable variations, some calling me Mom, and now, some calling me Nana. My life has been about children for as long as I can remember. God has brought them in to my life in droves. I have worked and prayed to touch and change them, and they, by their very natures, have ALWAYS touched and changed me! I have many stories and pondering and a smattering of knowledge. Maybe somebody will find them interesting. Maybe somebody will find themselves or the children they love in my telling.