Lessons From the 3-Year Olds
We’ve recently moved across town and now we live closer to nieces and nephews. You know what that means. We’ve been added to the speed-dial sitter list.
Last weekend was our maiden voyage. A full day with the 3-year old twins. As you might imagine, we ended up having no trouble sleeping that night. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed the girls, but they certainly kept us going—every moment of that day.
To any of you who have young children, this will come as no surprise, but we came away from the day having been reminded of some important things.
These are lessons I gained from a day with three-year olds:
1: SLOW DOWN. Normally, it takes Brent and I about four minutes to get to the park on our bikes. Not so with three-year-olds. No, it was a 45-minute walk each way. The trip to the park wasn’t my brightest idea on a 95-degree day. But they were troopers and never complained. Still, it was a slow, deliberate pace the entire way. There was no rush, no sense of needing to get to our destination quickly. No wonder it’s only adults who deal with things like high blood pressure. We’d all do well to slow down our pace a notch or two.
2: STOP & SMELL THE FLOWERS: One of the highlights on the trail was to stop and smell the flowers. If we’d been in a hurry, the beauty of the landscape and wildflowers would have been missed. It was sweet to see one sister want to share her flower experience with the other. What a great lesson. Stop, take a look around. Be present in the moment, enjoy what is put in your path and share it with those around you.
3. INJECT FUN INTO ORDINARY THINGS. The girls knew we’d be having a cold treat when we got home, but we kept the fact that it was smoothies a surprise. Unwilling to allow for an unnamed treat, the twins decided to refer to the surprise as “Quack-Quack.” Silly as it was, it brought us all lots of laughter for the rest of the night.
4: KINDLE THE JOY OF READING (no pun intended!). I’ve always loved books. Most of my life I’ve been a voracious reader. But, for some reason, recent years have drawn my attention elsewhere. Watching the girls bring me book after book after book to read was contagious. I think we put away about 20 books before the night was over.
5. REMEMBER THE SNEETCHES. One of the many stories we read was Dr. Seuss’ Sneetches. It’s a book I’ve had since I was a child and it shows by its well-worn corners. It made an impact on me back then and I truly recall its lessons even as an adult. The basic message is not to get caught up in the latest trends or judge others just because they’re not entangled in them.
I think about how our society is so influenced by the latest hot gadget, fashion or topic. Too often we’re judged by what toys we have or what we wear or how informed we are about the currently trending Twitter feed. Yet, being on top of those things has nothing to do with strong character, kindness or generosity.
Isn’t it amazing what we can learn through children?
A rendition of this story was first published on a blog.
Lisa Severson is a writer, editor and storyteller who loves to help others create meaningful messages that make a difference. This is just one of her many writing samples. Contact Lisa to learn more about working together.
