it’s rare that parker gets to do just what he wants with me tagging along, following his lead. rare that i am not distracted by emptying the dishwasher, checking my email, or straightening the strewn-about toys to just watch him, listen to him, play with him. on his time table, what he wants to do. i’m making more of an effort–to turn off the mental checklist in my head and just be. just be his mama. not the housekeeper, the cook, or the driver. just his mom. it’s not easy and i think we’re conditioned to move at harried paces, check things off the list, feel accomplished. but man does it feel good when i give him an hour of my undivided attention. parker, this hour is for you and only you. they’re sweet words.
almost every day lately we’ve been taking a walk down the street to see some horses in our neighborhood. i rarely carry him, i don’t push him in the stroller. i let him walk and he holds my hand. he stops. he picks up an acorn, a twig. he walks off the sidewalk to crunch some leaves. he comes back. he sits. he stands. he picks up some leaves. he lets go of my hand to pick up a pinecone with the other. he drops one, reaches for my hand again. he points to a passing truck. it’s slow-going. the ground that can normally be covered in five minutes is covered in fifteen by this mom and baby. sometimes more.
and that check list? that constant tapping at your head? it’s not really that important and my day looks no different in the end for taking a long break. to be with him going his pace. and he loves it. and the horses? we point to them, i make horse noises, we watch them eat and watch their skin shudder to fend off the landing flies. they come to the fence now to say hi to us, their frequent visitors. i pet them. he doesn’t want to yet. he knows the way, turning towards their stables without my lead. for this hour, he’s the leader.
You're such a sweet Mom!
I love that you do this with him. Undivided attention. Getting outdoors. Letting him walk about as he pleases and explore his surroundings.
I'm taking mommy notes for my future kid. 😉
That brought tears my eyes….those are going to be memories you will both cherish forever…
I realized how important this was when Olivia transformed into a different person during trick-or-treating. Undivided attention from both mom and dad, I've never seen her so silly or so happy. She had to hold both our hands and go up and down the driveways with the funniest walk.
This is perfect. My son and I do this too, but definitely not enough! You're so right about putting off that checklist–it can be so hard, but it's so worth it!
There's something about little boys and walking outside. It's just the best.
I was just thinking about this the other day. I need to remember to close the computer, turn off the TV, and focus on just Liam more often.
you have HORSES in your neighborhood?!
you are both so very lucky to have one another.
Funny how some kids are fearless when it comes to petting horses and some want to touch them but just can't quite bring themselves to do it.
Jessica
jessicalfly.blogspot.com
It seems like Parker is great at providing perspective. He's going to be a great man someday 🙂
love this. remind me to do this when svea starts walking (and before).
Cohen and I do a walk like this most days as well. He loves to run down the sidewalk, up the neighbors front walks, picking up gravel and sticks and just exploring at his own pace. It's so fun to watch them figure out the world…amazing.
How cool is this? How fun!
"my day looks no different in the end for taking a long break."-I love how this whole post is written, but that line really stayed with me because it is so true. Those little breaks are the times when we are doing the things that we will remember, the things that really matter.
I nanny for a little boy who is now 22 months. I've been watching him since he was 13 months and we walk in the neighborhood or to the library everyday I'm with him. It's such a peaceful time. I've begun to value and take interest in simple things because of those walks-birds, cars, tractors, what the gardeners are doing, dew on the grass. It's a really neat feeling to notice those things again and even get excited about seeing them (did you ever think you'd get excited about seeing a tractor? I didn't. Now I'm all "look it's a front loader!").
This is precious! I've been making an effort to do the same with my one year old (minus the pretty horses) and it's well worth it! Time with mommy is priceless and amazing in their eyes. Great post!
so sweet! it is so hard to turn off that constant checklist in your heard!
Ah! I love this. You are, as usual, a total inspiration. Thanks for the beauty.