Re-Experiencing Small Wonders
The best benefit of having a kid
Parenting is a Lot of Work
No sleep, endless diapers (unless you live in China), arduous bed time rituals, many hours of screaming and crying (for you and the baby).
This is, fortunately or unfortunately, not very memorable stuff. It sucks at the time and you question everything, but your brain does the smart thing and says “nah, I’ma delete all this crap.”
So I have a 2 and a 1/2 year old and she sleeps pretty well. But she still needs constant attention, and putting her on the TV is just lazy parenting, so we need to play games or run around or read books. But this part isn’t necessarily draining, it’s just a lot of work.
There is a reward for all this work though. One of them is the reminder that —
The World is Full of Hard Things
Walking up stairs. Seems pretty easy when its your millionth time doing it, but when you just got your legs under you, walking up the stairs is scary. But it’s also a great reminder of how difficult something like stairs are. Cows won’t go down them unless you force them.
We also force concepts like symbolic math, language, and advanced social communication skills on people who are still deciding where their poo should go. A kid reminds you that all of these things are difficult, especially when they’re learning so many different things at once.
They are not learned in a nice one hour workshop with free coffee. They are painstakingly pushed into a small, rapidly growing brain.
The world is full of hard things, and kids remind you that most things are hard. And we shouldn’t take for granted how much work on the part of the kids and those around them it is to make something like walking up and down stairs a simple task. The reason these things in our lives are simple now is because we spent many years mastering them.
But beyond a reminder of how difficult things can be, there’s a more important reminder —
The World is Full of Amazing Things
My daughter before bed tonight held out her hand and noticed that light fell on it. She lifted it up as though she could hold onto it. I showed her that light isn’t really something you hold, more something that “lands” somewhere. I held the pillow up and blocked the light, then let it back down. She was amazed.
Earlier today she saw herself in the fridge and let out a little yelp. Then she went back and inspected it. I made a pecking motion when my wife was reading a book about woodpeckers and my daughter laughed like it was the funniest thing ever (it was probably not that funny).
We went outside and played in the snow last week, and she was so excited to pick up some snow and throw it at the fence. Then she destroyed my little snowmen (several times), joyfully stomping them into oblivion.
Toddlers move at two speeds:
- “WOW this is so amazing look at this” dawdle
- “Haha I have something I shouldn’t” full on sprint
It just makes me laugh every time. The reason you see parents holding their toddlers hands is part safety, and part because they’re just so amazed at everything, they don’t make any headway unless someone is dragging them somewhere. But they’re just so fascinated by things that either they’ve never seen before or are noticing for the first time.
The amount of play, wonder and joy kids can have is really their gift to the world. Seeing a small mind unfold before the difficult, wonderful world; that is how I can re-experience the small wonders myself.
Thanks for reading!
