Irony of Innocence

After Sydney was baptized this past week, I've been thinking a lot about innocence and how refreshing it is, but also how fleeting it becomes as we grow up and mature.  We have to leave our innocence behind in order to understand concepts like agency, knowledge, and accountability.  And yet ultimately we are trying to  "become like a little child" again, like it says in the Book of Mormon, in the sense that we need to be humble, forgiving, patient and teachable and reject our natural inclination to sin.

I was happy to see Sydney so excited for Halloween this year because the rest of the kids are kind of past that excitement.  She couldn't wait to go trick or treating with our friends' the Clays, and she couldn't have picked a better costume this year to be the poster child for innocence.  She often reminds me of how simple life can be and she always lives in the present.  Her goodbye ritual every morning goes something like, "I love you mom, see you in 8 hours, have a great day."  Melts my heart every time she says it because I'm lucky to get a "bye mom" from some of the older kids.  And yet, she has also started to incorporate some of the sarcasm and defiance that I see in our other kids from time to time that indicates her innocence is gradually slipping away. 

My twin nieces, Mary and Elizabeth, are oozing with innocence!