Pretty Awesome

Mazie's mom here.

We just finished a great week with back-to-back visits from Ahya (who came for Easter weekend while Caleb was in San Antonio visiting Bryon and Miles) and then Nanny and Papa (who got in on Tuesday and left this morning). Mazie absolutely loved having her grandparents around -- an expanded audience for her increasingly complex stories, more people to read to her and play games with her and just generally adore her. Watching Mazie interact with my mommy and daddy (and step-mommy, too) was especially wonderful for me, giving me a glimpse into my own early childhood as I saw the absolute love and joy that they radiated in her presence.

Mazie is, in her own words, "pretty awesome," and a few people have been generous enough to give me and Caleb some credit for her awesomeness. I don't know how much of that credit is deserved -- Mazie has sure made parenting easy on us -- but having my own parents around has also made me reflect on the emerging parenting philosophy that Caleb and I are growing into. Our central tenets are pretty simple, and I recognized them in my own parents interactions with Mazie over the past week:

1. Treat Mazie like a person.
Caleb and I are constantly amazed by how much Mazie understands and how well she responds to our efforts to explain things to her and let her participate in our conversations. This explaining process also helps us avoid "Because I said so" moments, making us examine why we're making certain requests and what we can let go of.

2. Have fun.
Most of the time, Mazie makes this so easy it hardly seems like a parenting philosophy, but this really does seem to be central to our experience. Mostly, this just means paying attention, watching, listening, and interacting with Mazie, and reveling in the her unfolding character. Even in difficult moments (for example, this week in her new swimming class when she wouldn't get in the pool...), we try to take a step back and appreciate the humor and value of each new step.

I'm grateful for the way my parents applied these techniques in raising me, and I'm grateful for the way Mazie rewards our efforts with a constant stream of entertainment and sweetness. Parenthood is pretty awesome.