“Out of the mouths of babes.”
We’ve all heard it. I myself have only said it a handful of times, almost always related to something horribly embarrassing one of my children has said in front of an adult.
The implied meaning is, kids speak the truth.
Well, kids speak the truth about big things like peace, friendship and how long to cook a Thanksgiving turkey. When you ask them if their bedroom is clean or if the empty candy bar wrapper behind the couch is theirs, it’s another story.
Only until doing a little research for today’s post did I find out the origin of this phrase.
“Out of the mouth of babes & sucklings hast thou ordained strength.” Psalms 8:2, King James Bible.
or
“Out of the mouths of babes, comes truth or wisdom.”
It joins the ranks of the countless other phrases we get from the King James Bible. In fact, after the complete works of Shakespeare, the King James Bible is the most common source of English phrases.
(Fun Fact. Other phrases that tired parents can thank the Bible for, “at his wits end” and “all things must pass.”)
Phew! We learned something new, right?
The Blanket
So, fast forward from biblical times to Batman times…
when my four year old got a bedroom update from little cowboy to Batman Superhero.
This will all connect in a minute. I promise!
So we’re back to updating the bedroom. Cowboys are out, Batman’s in. And I had to buy the coordinating blanket.
I just had to.
Just like my son HAD TO TELL HIS BUDDY about said blanket.
His fellow lego-loving, super hero pajama wearing, goofy, smiling best buddy. They ask to play with each other, literally, before the sun is up some days.
Like buddies do, before he actually made it into the house, my little one was shouting to him from the street about this new soft blanket. The blanket was played with, thrown and ended up abandoned on the floor while they got to the business of fighting imaginary crime.
You can barely keep up with the two of them as they run in circles from Minecraft, to Lego, to dress up, to Batman, to Play-Doh and back to Minecraft again. So in the middle of an intense battle against evil, my son raced to the blanket and said:
A caption cannot accurately sum up this awesomeness!
After I finished laughing.
And sneaking a picture.
And texting his mom.
I had to sit back and take this one in.
My first thought? Wouldn’t it be amazing if that worked?
Without fail, that is how people responded when I shared this anecdote:
“I’l bet the world would be a better place if we could snuggle for justice!”
Ok, Ok, I get it. It would be a little uncomfortable. Or inappropriate. But this funny kids-phrase, takes really complicated negotiations, rifts, wars and feuds and says,
“
Approach each other with LOVEClick To Tweet.”
So, what would the world be like if we approached one another with love?
And I mean everyone. Not just the people you already think are awesome.
The Cat Women, The Jokers and the Creepers of the world.
I’m pretty sure it would be almost as amazing as snuggling for justice! All we can do is give it a try and see what happens. A popular phrase and hashtag right now, is #lovewins. But we all know that
love doesn't win until someone does the work.Click To Tweet.Love isn’t a thing you buy or a present you give.
Love is a VERB! It’s action.
Sometimes it’s given back.
And sometimes it isn’t.
The struggle, the uncertainty, the effort, the work. The work of love my friends, is what makes it so sweet.
So let’s work, and love and most importantly…
let’s snuggle for justice.
I love this! It’s a topic that’s been on my mind of late. It’s so hard to love people who are flat out WRONG, but it’s something we all have to figure out how to do! Snuggle for justice!
Yes, I completely agree Nikki. I have to regularly remind myself that someone who disagrees with me, likely feels just as passionately about it as I do. Maybe we should start making “Snuggle for Justice” shirts. It could really catch on. 😉
How absolutely adorable is this?
Thanks, I know right?! Gems like this make up for the sleepless nights and refusal to eat three out of the four food groups.
How cute 🙂 I have a 4-year-old and sleepless nights myself 😀
Yes! I’m right there with you Reelika. Four year olds give great hugs to make up for it!
I probably said something very similar when I was your son’s age. I was always thinking about the popular song at the time “What The World Needs Now (Is Love Sweet Love)”. It really is the only thing that there is just too little of and if only everyone could feel more of it in their heart maybe just maybe the world would be a better place…a girl CAN and SHOULD dream!
Yes, Beth. I love that song and I love that this is a memory you had at that age – so wonderful. We girls should never stop dreaming – so I’m with you!