Grant and I ran in to Harris Teeter the other day on the way to pick up Sydney from an after school activity. It was not our usual Harris Teeter, but one on the way downtown. On the way out, Grant spied the moving mechanical Harry the Happy Dragon machine. Anyone know which one I'm talking about? We don't have one at our usual store, but I've seen them many times at other stores. He wanted to get up, of course. And my first instinct was of course to say, "No, sweetie, we don't have time." Or, "No, sweetie, I don't have any quarters" (without checking my wallet, of course). But, I looked at my watch, and, in fact, we had 8 minutes to spare before we needed to head downtown to get Sydney and avoid having her left destitute on 4th street, just a few blocks from the "hood." And I looked at my cute son who had been to the grocery store THREE times that day with no complaints or misbehavior, and thought, "What the heck! Let's go for it." "Yes, you can climb up on Harry the Dragon, Grant." He was so excited. So, he got up and sat down, admiring the view from up high. I think he thought that was it - you just climb up and that is the fun of it. Then my eye caught sight of the coin collector and I noticed the price : 1 cent. Really? 1 cent to ride? Has it always been that cheap? Was someone playing a trick on me? Has anyone ever seen a kid's ride that cheap? I looked twice to be sure. "Grant, do you want to ride?" He had no idea what I meant, but said yes. So I found a penny and put it in. "Press the green button, Grant." When that dragon started moving, the look on Grant's face was completely priceless. He lit up with pure joy and surprise. He was completely delighted with the little dragon moving up and down. His smile did not fade one single bit during the minute-long ride. I was not expecting him to be so enthralled with the moving dragon. When Harry slowed to a stop, we still had six minutes to spare, so I dug out a few more pennies (good riddance of those heavy and otherwise useless pieces of metal crowding out my wallet!), and let him keep riding again and again and again. And it felt so good to say, "Yes," to pause and allow him to waste some time and experience the joy of discovery for a two-year old. Those preschool and toddler years are so precious and so brief, and there is so much to learn and discover.
Unfortunately, I feel like my job as a parent is pretty much saying "No" to the bombardment of requests I get daily from my brood.
"Mom, can I have a playdate today even though I have soccer and homework and I am one of four children?"
"No."
"Mom, can I eat a bowl of cereal ten minutes before dinner?"
"No."
"Mom, can I have a sleepover tonight?"
"No."
"Mom, can I have another serving of dessert?"
"No."
"Mom, can I skip bath (again) tonight?"
"No."
"Mom, can I wear flip flops even though it is 30 degrees out?"
"No."
Ahhh! I love my kids and I love saying "yes," but it seems there are so many "no's." I think this little dragon incident (which Grant insists was a dinosaur, NOT a dragon), is one of those gentle reminders to me as a parent to seek out opportunities to say, "Yes." It was one of those many daily situations where I typically would have said, "No," but on this day, I chose to say, "Yes." And his exuberant reaction to the little dragon (that cost only one penny and one minute of my time) reminded me to seek out those opportunities to be open to life's inconveniences, to be open to joy, to say yes to checking your watch to see if you really are in a rush or not, to say yes to checking your wallet for quarters or pennies before answering that you have none, to say yes to the quirky toddler years, to say yes to harmless little diversions. I love this kid. And I love seeing the little hidden treasures of life through his lens.
