It’s been a long time since I’ve had a toddler in my house.

I remember those years with both fondness and exhaustion.

If memory serves me correct, I was always moving. Whether it be playing on the floor or following closely behind a mini whirling dervish who could make a mess of any organized area of my home, my body and senses were always on high alert.

Now, with a 14 and 10 year old, other than watching them get their energy out at basketball and karate, I find myself constantly encouraging them to get off the couch and move. It doesn’t help that our winter weather zaps us of the desire to do anything. We just want to binge-watch Netflix until spring arrives. While having older kids comes with its own type of exhaustion (clean your room, finish your homework, empty the dishwasher, put your iPod down already!), it’s not the same of having a little one weaving in and out under-foot.

Because I have just enough recall to be able to tap into those memories, I find it important to support parents of younger children. One way I do this is by volunteering to teach music at a weekly community Bible study in the area. As a former pre-school music teacher, this was a natural way for me to fill a need by volunteering my time and energy while area mothers enjoy a morning of community with adults.

I totally love it.

I wake on Thursday mornings, ready to tackle the boundless energy that 3-year-olds can bring.

And since I’m not worn out from have little ones running around my house any longer, I find that I can totally match their pint-sized enthusiasm.

For 20 minutes we march, jump, spin around, wiggle, clap, and get down with shaker instruments. For 20 minutes I am hugged, asked about the “stick in my nose” (my nose is pierced), have a child in my lap, redirect attention, perform improv, and smile.

A lot.

There is a lot of smiling.

As mothers, we all come from different perspectives. As we learned a few weeks ago, I’d rather my kids have cash then gift cards (and the grandparents who actually GIVE the gift cards are in agreement and on board here). As was recently in the news, there are mothers who have absolute confidence in their kid’s ability to walk home alone from a park a mile away. Breast-feed. Bottle-feed. Work. Stay home. So many issues we could hammer away at, right?

Truth is, we all do the parenting thing differently. Different doesn’t mean one is wrong and one is right. It’s just different.

But we have one thing in common: Parenting is both fulfilling and tiring. We are in the same boat. We are mothers.

And in that, we need to respect one another. We need to support one another.

I do so by singing and dancing around with three-year-olds.

Do you have opportunities to volunteer your time and talents for other moms? Have you been the recipient of such service?