Do your children drive you crazy, but you love them anyway? Of course. I propose we we start a new holiday to remind us of how special they really are.

                    Overlooked Treasures

I think we should start a new holiday. We could call it ‘Overlooked Treasures’ day, and we would use it to celebrate our children. That might sound a little crazy, setting aside a day to honor the little people in our lives who track mud across the clean floor, draw pictures on the bathroom mirror with toothpaste and who desperately need to use a restroom ten minutes into a long car ride. Let’s face it–these little creations, our daughters and sons, are as unique as they are entertaining. They can lock a sibling in the closet, but can’t pour cereal and hit the bowl. They can work the remote for the television, stereo, and garage door-but can’t remember to raise the toilet seat (or put it down, depending on the circumstances). They can even create amazing works of art using nothing more than a box of Crayola crayons . . . which is part of the problem. They often seem to forget that their masterpieces belong on paper–not on the bedroom wall. But still, I propose a holiday.

I have three grandsons who know me as being a bit crazy – for a grandmother. Which means I’m all for wrestling them down on the living room carpet and chewing on their belly if that’s what it takes to get them to giggle and squeal. There’s not much for cookies at my house, but I’ll chase them around the table if they dare me. Of course, as they get older (and faster!) my odds of catching them start going downhill – but it’s still worth a try. And yet, despite the horseplay and the closeness, they are not mine . . . not in same way that their mother was mine. They are hers, and that’s a little different. My youngest is twelve now, so my days of Crayola drawings, and evenings spent telling stories with my child settled in my lap, are gone. I watch the world around me. I hear the young mothers lose their patience in stores and scold their little ones a bit too loudly. I see the children with the soiled clothes and unkempt hair. I see children with sad eyes following busy parents, like invisible shadows who are meant to tag along. More and more, it seems that we grownups are losing track of the important things in life. We’re losing track of the children.

An ‘Overlooked Treasures’ day would not be for giving gifts or eating candy. We would not celebrate it with gaily-wrapped packages. The only thing we would share on that day would be ourselves. Children are magical. They can make you laugh and cry in the same minute. A child can break your heart with a single tear, or mend your soul with one small hug. They are our greatest commodity and the most precious of all gifts that life will pass our way. They are unique and irreplaceable, and they are ours forever–bound at the heart. Our children deserve our time, our love and our respect. They need to be held fast and nurtured while they are small, or they will never soar when they are older. And if they don’t soar, let it not be because we failed them. In fact, everyday should be an ‘Overlooked Treasures’ day, because that’s what our children deserve. That and no less. After all, how can they  ever know how special they are if even their parents forget to tell them?