My son’s last day of kindergarten was this past week.  I did the mom thing with the pictures on the last day and then compared them to the first day.  Seeing the growth in this child and witnessing both the passage of time and the development of a unique individual is bittersweet.  I am so proud of him.  He turned out to be capable in so many areas that he didn’t think he would be.  He is a natural with numbers and he’s a performer and he has one of the kindest hearts I have witnessed.  Seeing how quickly time moves makes me realize that I have zero control in this equation.  I could hold him as a baby and he’d tag along wherever I went and now he shares every opinion he has about what he wants to do and he isn’t shy about it.  He is super creative and he has taught me so much.  Parenting is so much about learning and letting go of what we thought we knew.  These little humans have it so much more in line than what we do. 

I see these kids and how adept they are with play.  Their ability to integrate the lessons they have with their natural desire to make it all a game.  They have an inherent wisdom that we try to knock out of them, and the more I listen to their conversations, the more I want to stop doing that.  I want to be present, as present as my son is, and enjoy where I’m at now.  He has no shame in being in the moment and living fully.  There is so much freedom in that and I see how he’s developing a better sense of self.  He knows what he likes and what he doesn’t—and that doesn’t always align with what we have to do.  Ever try to convince a kid to get out of the house in the morning when you’re on a schedule?  Yeah, that’s a real humbling lesson in “it’s not about you anymore.”  It used to drive me nuts but now I get it—learning takes time and, quite simply, it isn’t always about getting things done.  It’s about living in the moment.

In this world, no matter what we do, time passes, kids grow up, we all face our time at the end.  There is no reason to hold the wheel as tightly as we think we need to.  There’s a time and place to set goals and do the work, but part of that work is keeping your options open and staying light-hearted enough to see the possibilities.  That’s the wonder of being a kid: there are possibilities everywhere.  It’s limitless.  What happens to that level of imagination that we aren’t able to deviate from the same routine?  How do we become so entrenched in crap we don’t even like doing?  Spend some time with kids if you want to learn the purpose of life.  Spend time with the elderly if you want to know the value of life.  Learn to cultivate the good because those years that seemed to take forever will pass in a blink.  Make the best of it.