just a spoonful of sugar

Being a nanny of two boys who are 8 & 10 years old, maturity is something that is not experienced all that often. But every once in a while something happens that makes me realize that these boys, as young as they seem, already know so much about life. Things that I can’t even really figure out in my 18 years of life thus far. People say that maturity is something that comes with age and experience, which is usually the case. But not always…

Both of the boys are in Jiu Jitsu, and they absolutely love it! They go to their classes regularly & work their little booties off! Yesterday, Ethan [the younger one] was promoted and earned another stripe on his belt! After class, I went up and congratulated him on his stipe. I expected to get a “thank you” and see a big smile on his little face, but instead he replied with, “I don’t really deserve this…I don’t think I trained hard enough for it.” Well, I definitely was not expecting that! I was a little shocked to hear him say that, and at the same time my heart was whole in knowing that Ethan is aware that he is capable of doing so much more! Ethan is very motivated & can be very mature in his decisions. He knows what he wants & he doesn’t like to be given things, he prefers to work for them. Which is something that you don’t normally see with an 8 year-old boy. Actually, you don’t really see that kind of mentality with most people of just about any age. & that really made me think about how I handle things in my life. I realized that I am totally guilty of taking what I have & where I am for granted. I know that I have gotten things that I have not deserved, and recognition that I could have worked much harder to receive. & I haven’t really noticed that up until now.  After coming to this realization last night, I know that I want to be more like Ethan, in the way that he aspires to be the most hard working version of himself.

I am so blessed to have these kids in my life, they teach me so much.

Besos, Alex