What Do You See Through These Glasses?

Have you stopped to smell the roses lately, or whatever allergenic flower that is blooming at the moment? I haven't in a while. Today while running errands and getting Max some food at Petsmart, I slipped into the Barnes and Noble next door. I sat in the floor and read a Walt Whitman poetry book for fifteen minutes. It was nice, just for a quick moment. Does that count? April and May are busy busy, even for a stay at home mommy. For example, my past weekend. My mom and grandmother came to visit. Friday was a birthday lunch for a friend and lots of errands. Saturday saw it's share of THREE birthday parties and a soccer game. Around seven loads of laundry. Kyle hasn't been home for dinner in a week now. Craziness!!! I don't know how I did it when I worked. I have an extra kiddo now, so maybe that makes a big difference. And Slade didn't have practice, etc. Kuddos to all the 9-5 working mommies. You are Superman! Or Superwoman shall I say. I'm pretty sure Superwoman is tougher than Superman. Superwoman had to give birth and take care of her children, give them medicine, vitamins, do laundry, that kind of thing. Anyways, back to the smelling of the roses.

I have been intrigued the last few days watching Finley. There is something to the saying, "Seeing life through the eyes of a child". Kids really do stop and look at the little things. I was watching Finley last night as she stepped out of the bathtub. She stopped for several seconds and watched water drip onto the freshly washed bath rug. It would drip and and leave an indention in the little carpet threads, thus turning the wet spots a dark brown. She just stood and let it drip. She'll sit for unrecorded amounts of time and play with the sticky adhesive on the flaps of a bandaid. Play with it until it's no longer sticky and then looses her interest. Have you ever seen a child watch a bug crawl across the cement? Or an ant. That bug keeps their undivided attention for several minutes. An adult would probably just squash it, never missing a step.

Finley was following me around the house yesterday. It was beautiful outdoors, so I had the backdoor open. She was standing really still, looking at me. I asked her what was wrong. She said, "Do you hear that birdie?" No, I hadn't stopped to listen to the birds-unfortunately too concerned with the saltine crackers ground into my carpet. But I did after she brought it up. For a quick moment, I appreciated that bird for the sweet tune it chirped instead of the poop it leaves behind on my car window every day when it sits on the tree in the driveway! I watched Finley as she sat in the driveway and watched a thick chunk of pink chalk roll all the way down to the street. It's like they have some kind of innate sense of appreciation for their surroundings. Very cool.

When do we loose that? At what age? Do you ever get it back? I think that we do. I remember watching my great-grandparents sit and fish at the ponds when I was small. They were so satisfied and enjoyed watching us run around and eat their Twinkies and drink their caffeine free Diet Dr. Peppers. I've noticed that older people will stop and tell me how cute Finley looks in a dress. One little lady even touched my hair and told me what pretty long hair I had. Freaked me out a bit when I saw the hand coming towards me, but she meant well. She liked my hair. I think after you've lived a long time, you tend to see the beauty in life. With the gray hairs and wrinkles of character, come a love of things, not possessions you acquired with money. The little things. The dewy drops of rain on a leaf. The smell of a rumbling thunder storm. The chirps of a very poop filled blackbird. Kinda like a child. Kinda like my Finley.

So pop a Zyrtec this week and stop to smell the spring flowers. And remember, not all birds are out to get your windshield. Some have a sweet chirp that Finley likes to hear. And best of all, this won't cost you a penny...............Well, maybe 17 cents for a generic Zyrtec.