Building blocks for a better tomorrow

I’m all for volunteering—I’ve served meals at homeless shelters, brought music into retirement homes and cleaned up church and school grounds. But there was always one area of volunteerism I avoided—children.

Don’t get me wrong, children are adorable. Their giant eyes and chubby cheeks make me smile every time.  But I had never had any experience with them. I’m an only child, have not yet reached motherhood, and can only recall awkwardly holding a baby once. I seldom interact with little Munchkins.

This past weekend I decided to volunteer at the Freedom Festival Baby Contest and United Way Family Event, where young children fine-tuned their motor skills by playing with books, balls and blocks. Inexperienced, I was unsure how I could truly help out and make an impact. But as I saw parents playing with the children, I noticed that there was just something so tender about their connection-- a connection unique to each family, yet equally precious and pure among all the families there. It was truly special.

Now this doesn’t mean I’m ready to jump into motherhood just yet. Yet by working with children to gain skills and learn important developmental lessons to help them in the future, I’ve learned my own important lesson as well:

I recognized that these types of things-- as simple as playing with blocks—are the building blocks for greater things.

Volunteering can be as simple as playtime. And even though I haven’t done playtime since I was a wee kid myself, sometimes you have to breach your comfort zone to help where help is needed.  I know I’m sure glad I did.