My turn: Children make great incentive

It was when I was purchasing my goddaughter’s Christmas present that I realized how big she has gotten. I asked a shoe store employee to bring out a size 1 in the new Michael

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Jordan shoe. I opened the box and thought, “no way is her feet that big now, no way is she that big now.”

Considering I like my house and nice things, I’ve made up my mind that I’ll put off even thinking about having children for a while. But seeing my goddaughter Rayana’s imperfect gapped-tooth smile for the first time in two years made me see why parenting is such a gorgeous thing.

It’s like that smile alone made me want to give her everything, help her grow, and protect her from any harm.

During an hour-long drive, the 7-year-old chatterbox told me how loud and irritating kids at her school are. I learned that she’ll be playing basketball when school starts and that her favorite singer is Beyonce.

Part of the time we spent together, I treated her like a little sister, giving her noogies and tripping her while she walked. Other times I acted motherly, making sure she walked on the inside of the sidewalk and insisting she finished her food. I even made her try squid.

All the extra-tight hugs she gave me before I left home will help me get through the long days here. Children remind us why we continue to want to make this world a better place.

Christina Calloway writes for Clovis Media Inc.