'Enjoy every moment ' is a piece of wisdom one hears from other parents when they see you out and about with your child.
It’s a phrase that could use some updating, because as most parents know, it’s impossible to do.
It is doable, though, to pay attention in the magical moments.
On a sunny day last week, a warm front clashed with our mountain air and the resulting wind left me singing, “Let’s go fly a Kite!” in my head.
I was whistling until Finn asked what it was. He had never heard it so I sang it for him.
“I like that song. I REALLY like that song,” he said. “I think it’s one of my favorites.”
“Should we go fly a kite?” I said.
“Let’s do it! Let’s do it!” he said, jumping up and down.
Not sure it would be the best activity for a 3 year old, I tried to back pedal, but he wouldn’t have it.
He’s asserting his independence at every chance now and constantly demanding to “do it by myself” when I’m teaching him something.
His understanding of a kite thus far is that you use it as a dragon, running around the house with the tail trailing behind. I was already imagining a struggle just to get it into the air.
My childhood memories of kites are not the best. They were the paper kind and almost always crashed into the woods. We rarely recovered them in one piece.
That, I figured was the worst that could happen.
So off we went.
He allowed me to fly it briefly, then yanked the spool from my hand when I was trying to show him how to hold it.
The kite fell but I just stepped back and let him hold it. “Here we go,” I thought.
What happened next was a little magical, so our job was to pay attention.
Erin took a video.