As you may recall, our youngest son, whom I affectionately call son number 4, is five years old.
It amazes me how much five-year-olds see the world in its most pure state.
There are many things that I will miss about son number 4 when he goes to full-time kindergarten this coming fall, but one of the most special is his sense of joy.
To him, everything is an adventure.
He wakes up telling me that he wants to go exploring today.
That may consist of going through the small patch of trees in our back yard that he calls “the woods.”
He may just want to find a big stick and walk up and down the yard and around the house looking for bugs and caterpillars.
Whatever it is, he considers it an exploration, and he always wants me to join him.
With our other boys getting older n they are 15, 13 and 9 n I sometimes forget the innocence of a young mind.
“Mommy look at me!” son number four yells.
I glance in his direction to see him hopping on one foot, trying to balance himself without falling down.
He is beaming with pride.
Within minutes of my clapping and cheering for him, he decides to put another move to his trick.
“Mommy, look at me again.”
I look up at him to see him hopping on one foot and now trying to spin around.
He had less luck with this acrobatic feat, as he came crashing down to the ground.
“Cool, I can land on the ground like a spinning top.”
The innocence cheers me up so much I burst out in laughter.
Sometimes I look back and wonder, Did I enjoy the older boys this much? Was I patient with them, or did I rush through their “Mommy, look at me” time because I was much younger?
As I get older, I realize that, all too soon, those bugs-finding, leg-hopping, falling-down times go by so quickly.
I thank God for the opportunity to enjoy it now n while someone still thinks I’m special enough to call out, “Mommy, look at me!”
Thanks for sharing