Monday, August 6, 2018

How to enjoy life: lessons from a toddler


Ben likes those cornhole toss games—the ones where you throw a beanbag throw a hole in a tilted board. But he's not just interested in getting the bag in; he wants to know where it goes. Whenever we come upon one of these games, he sticks his little face right in the hole to check out what's below.

Toddlers can run you ragged. But they also have a way of making you stop and marvel at rocks. Or wonder at blinking red stop lights. Or find new delight in a boat ride. Or get seriously gleeful about singing the ABC's at the top of your lungs in the car. I'd forgotten this about little kids. Ben's been regularly reminding us.

"LOOKIT! A helicopter!" he'll exclaim, and we all stop, stare and laugh. 

Max didn't go through this phase. I think he was so focused on the big physical movements—crawling, taking steps, using his hands to pick up things—that he didn't much notice the small things. We were similarly focused on him achieving the big things, and we didn't take time to savor, either. Some part of me is probably making up for lost time. 

Ben's not much into being still these days, but he loves having his feet rubbed. If he's upset, all I have to do is take off his shoe and massage a foot. Automatically, his thumb goes into his mouth and he's pacified. There are times when I'm not doing anything except at all sitting on the couch and rubbing his foot, and it's kind of great. I'm not much good at slowing down. 

Now we just need to teach him how to give a good foot rub. 

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Thanks for sharing!