My Son at the Playground

My 2 year old son is continually teaching me new things.  Judging by my posts, it is obvious that so much joy I find in this world comes from my children. 

Unfortunately I can’t grant my son every wish he desires, such as going swimming everyday, drinking chocolate milk all day, or buying every truck or dog he sees, yet he always makes whatever he is doing fun. 

When we do get to do some of the activities he loves, such as playing on the playground, it is a delight to observe him.  Today for instance he climbed up to the tallest slide, and stopped at the top of the stairs.  In front of the slide sat an older girl, maybe 10 years old, blocking the entrance.  I saw him hesitate, deciding whether he should turn back, or press on, when I heard him very politely ask if he could have a turn. What a sweet boy.  It is hard knowing I cannot protect this child from all that is wrong in this world.  I wish I could make sure I could always be standing there, making sure he would get his turn on the big slide.  This time I was there, but didn’t need to fight this girl for my sons turn on the slide. She moved and he enjoyed his turn.

Not more than 5 minutes later he showed yet another side of his wonderful love for life and for people.  He ran up to another running child, close to his size, and roared.  He loves to roar in faces and chase them after.  Of course this other child was rather surprised and just ran away.  This roaring incident reminded me of another similar experience he had had a couple of weeks prior.

While standing in line at the store pharmacy, he said “boo” to a woman passing by, leaned over the cart, close to her face, and yelled “boo”. He loved it. I was mortified, and she was a little surprised, and walked away.  A few minutes later, she was walking past us again, heading the other direction, and she yelled “boo” to him.  That was such a neat interaction between the two of them.

It’s these types of little encounters he has with people that reminds me, life is short, have fun, don’t worry what others might think and slide down the tallest slide, and roar, or even “boo” at a stranger.  Who knows, you might actually have fun, make someone else’s day a little brighter and maybe even get a “boo” in return.  

Today, I choose joy!