You know, sometimes we need a reminder. Maybe we need a reminder that being kind creates a wealth we can not measure. Sometimes we need a reminder of the cruelty of the world. Today I was reminded that we are given droplets of time that are gifts like gleaming emeralds in the rain. School has been hard for my son the last bit. Mama going to work has been hard for him too. He's been hitting some big growth spurts and it seems like now he's in the middle of a big emotional/intellectual one. His emotions are close to the surface and they consume him at a moments notice. Sometime without any notice. He and I have been working through the school drop off transition with lots of tears and hugs. I know he'll come through it just like his sister did at this age. It's still hard. Probably harder for me since I remember going through the same thing and his fear is contagious. Today we played a lot before leaving and I talked about what we were going to do. "We'll get on the bike after we swing a bit", "We'll ride the bike up to the busy street and then up the hill". Dialogue like that. It's more background chatter but those in the know always say that kids like to know what's coming. Makes sense to me. Today when I mentioned the bike he perked up. "Can I ride my bike?".....um..... I didn't have a good answer. He's only been riding a pedal bike for a month or so. The street is kind of busy. There are four way stops. As I ran through all this in my head I realized he could really use a confidence boost. He's never ridden his bike to school. He rode his scoot bike to the farmer's market once but I walked with him on the sidewalk. This was kind of a big moment for both of us. He was actively taking an interest in how we got somewhere. My idea was that we could tow his bike off the back of the xtracycle until we got past the busy areas. I wish I had a picture of it. It was brilliant. After we unhooked his bike and I was watching him ride the path along the community gardens I realized what a gift this was to me and to him. I said "Hey, you're bike commuting". To which he replied "What's commuting?". Silly papa, kids don't care about that kind of stuff. That's OK. I care enough for both of us.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Today is a gift
You know, sometimes we need a reminder. Maybe we need a reminder that being kind creates a wealth we can not measure. Sometimes we need a reminder of the cruelty of the world. Today I was reminded that we are given droplets of time that are gifts like gleaming emeralds in the rain. School has been hard for my son the last bit. Mama going to work has been hard for him too. He's been hitting some big growth spurts and it seems like now he's in the middle of a big emotional/intellectual one. His emotions are close to the surface and they consume him at a moments notice. Sometime without any notice. He and I have been working through the school drop off transition with lots of tears and hugs. I know he'll come through it just like his sister did at this age. It's still hard. Probably harder for me since I remember going through the same thing and his fear is contagious. Today we played a lot before leaving and I talked about what we were going to do. "We'll get on the bike after we swing a bit", "We'll ride the bike up to the busy street and then up the hill". Dialogue like that. It's more background chatter but those in the know always say that kids like to know what's coming. Makes sense to me. Today when I mentioned the bike he perked up. "Can I ride my bike?".....um..... I didn't have a good answer. He's only been riding a pedal bike for a month or so. The street is kind of busy. There are four way stops. As I ran through all this in my head I realized he could really use a confidence boost. He's never ridden his bike to school. He rode his scoot bike to the farmer's market once but I walked with him on the sidewalk. This was kind of a big moment for both of us. He was actively taking an interest in how we got somewhere. My idea was that we could tow his bike off the back of the xtracycle until we got past the busy areas. I wish I had a picture of it. It was brilliant. After we unhooked his bike and I was watching him ride the path along the community gardens I realized what a gift this was to me and to him. I said "Hey, you're bike commuting". To which he replied "What's commuting?". Silly papa, kids don't care about that kind of stuff. That's OK. I care enough for both of us.
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