“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”
― Dr. Seuss, Happy Birthday to You!
My son is TWO. I could not think of words more appropriate than those of Dr. Seuss (but, isn't that how it always goes?). In two years, he has developed into an amazing and unique little person. We often remark on how the years pass so quickly, and how much our little ones change, but today makes me think back to two years ago and the person he's been all along.
The French philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin once wrote: "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." It is along these same lines that Dr. Montessori always spoke of the spiritual embryo. From birth, our spiritual selves are present, holding within us all the elements we need to begin to create ourselves. In the Secret of Childhood, she wrote: "We should regard this secret effort of the child as something sacred. We should welcome its arduous manifestations since it is in this creative period that an individual’s future personality is determined.” But the child's secret is not without influence from the world around it. In The Child In The Family, Montessori wrote: "The child thus incarnate is a spiritual embryo which must come to live for itself in the environment. But like the physical embryo, the spiritual embryo must be protected by an external environment animated by the warmth of love and the richness of values, where it is wholly accepted and never inhibited." The process through which the mind and soul form is there from birth, but influenced by the love and care (or lack thereof) that we give the child.
From day one, my son demanded physical contact and attention. He always knew what he needed and found a way to voice it...loudly. Even in those first 48 hours, nurses would look upon him and remark "it's like he knows what's going on; what an old soul." Over the next two years, people would continue to comment on how knowingly he takes in the world. In those first days, I think we inherently knew my son would need extra: extra love, attention, patience, support, and sacrifice. And in giving him extra, he has given us everything: faith, wonderment, trust, and a love I could barely imagine.
Today, he is full of laughter and mischief. He is cautious, but still taken with a sense of adventure. He is occasionally shy and reserved and, other times, talkative and charming. He is dependent and clingy while still full of independence and drive. He is incredible and complicated, frustrating and inspiring, infuriating and heart-melting. He is a contradiction of wonders that has made my life unimaginably complete. And that is truer than true.
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