Perspective From A Child's View

…and I don’t mean their height. Although, if you crouch down to their level, everything looks a little cooler and bigger! And then your legs start hurting from the “workout”.

Anywho, James wanted to get his wiggles out but didn’t want to go all the way to the beach, which is totally fine. The wind was ridiculous, riptides were awful and holding him in the ocean was nearly impossible. So, we opted to walk across the street to the larger dumpster and where a forklift was parked. It rained that morning and by the afternoon, puddles were still around. The humidity was so thick, we almost needed gillyweed* (for you Harry Potter fans) to breathe. Naturally, James was wearing his tennis shoes and I was in sandals and long jeans. The wind was cold okay! As we walked on the gravel path toward the dumpster, my little toddler saw what could only be a big, large, very wet, puddle.

Now, I'm not one for puddles anymore. The feeling of wet feet with jeans just doesn’t do it for me, so, naturally, I typically try to keep James out of them as well. Also, growing up, my grandmother always told me puddles were gross (and she isn’t necessarily wrong) but it’s stuck with me, unless I’m at home. We weren’t at home.

As he started walking towards this monstrosity, (really, it wasn’t that big in terms of diameter, just about 2” deep) I opened my mouth to say, “No, James. Don’t walk in the puddle.” But as he truned to look at me, something in me hesitated. My mouth, halfway open, ready tell him no, instead said, “be careful running through the puddles with the rocks.” That’s something I never would have said before but it’s given me perspective. Instead of saying no to things like that, I’ve started questioning, “why not?” And my mom’s favorite saying, “in the scheme of life, what does it matter?”

Why not let James run through a puddle? Why not let him watch TV in the evenings? Don’t get me wrong, we are still teaching him there are consequences to every action and letting him know, “because you chose X, you chose to Y.” Regardless if they’re good or bad.

But now, who cares if he runs through a puddle? Who cares if he sprays me with the hose? In the scheme of life, what does it matter that he plays with wind chimes in a store? Perhaps I should have been like this from the beginning, but moving forward, we will do our best to make him the happiest son ever (within reason of course).

Once again, we thank you for your support! Much love from us all!