We Forget the Miracle: How Our Children Remind Us What Truly Matters

A man named Zak Simon, who runs a beautiful blog about raising parents as part of raising children, wrote a moving post ahead of Chanukah:

“Over time, we forget just how much of a miracle our children really are,” he writes. “We forget the tests that once showed a single line — until that moment when we finally saw two. We forget the excitement and the fears that came in the months that followed, the scans… when we held our breath just to hear again and again that everything was okay. We forget the moments of ‘I don’t feel any movement,’ and then, when it finally comes, that sigh of relief that already begins to build the deep concern you feel for your children.

How Life Makes Us Forget

“We forget the birth, or sometimes we push it aside. We forget those early days when we asked ourselves how people could possibly have more than one child. We forget because life is like that — it moves so fast that you barely remember how you got to where you are. And even though you were the one holding the wheel, you have no idea who was really driving all this time. Most of all, we forget to take stock of the good we have in our lives.

Nothing Is Taken for Granted

“Put cynicism aside for a moment. Life can feel like a kind of Russian roulette. All it takes is one video on YouTube and an ad about a donation campaign to remind you how nothing in this life is guaranteed. Nothing — absolutely nothing, is to be taken for granted. Not the food in our fridge, not our health or the health of those around us, and not even the home that looks like someone hosted a wedding for 400 guests in it.

The Power of a Child’s Presence

“And yet, all of this means there is ‘something.’ And what we have is far greater than what we don’t. We forget, but then these little ones come and remind us.

“I can walk into the house full of thoughts, exhausted, weighed down by everything, and suddenly one of my kids runs up to me and says ‘Dad.’ Just that one word can shatter a hundred negative thoughts. Then they add a hug with their small arms, and all the burdens I was carrying disappear. Then they rest their head on me with such trust that it makes me feel like the strongest person in the world. And suddenly, a spark of joy lights up inside me, making me run and play with them as if I didn’t have a single worry.

The Light That Lights Us

“They are the spark that ignites the flame within me. My children are my Chanukah candles. But they are not just candles to look at — they are candles to see, to hold, to hug, to kiss, to love, and then to realize that these candles are the ones lighting us up.

“Thank you for the miracles, and for the wonders,” he concludes.