“Momma, I’d like to buy a mode ring.” My daughter announces this as we peruse the aisles of a store as we look for a gift.
“A what? What do you want?” I am trying to pay attention so that I can either say, yes, no or I don’t know.
“A mode ring, Momma. The one that changes colors. I read about it in the Judy Moody books.” She puts extra emphasis on the words “changes colors.”
“Oh, you mean, a mood ring. Not a mode ring silly.” As I correct her, I laugh out loud.
My daughter turned six and half this week. She’s quite vocal about it. When someone asks her age, she is careful about letting the world know that the half part is important. It makes me cringe because as she adds on to her age, I find myself wanting her to be younger.
I miss the days when she mispronounced words. I miss the days when she got excited singing her ABC’s. I miss the days when she first discovered paint and crayons and paper for the first time.
These days her questions indicate how much she has grown in the last few years. All her words come out as questions. “How does the mood ring change colors? What does the tooth fairy look like? Can grandpa see what we are doing? Do you think we will live together when I turn 100?”
Of course, I don’t have many answers. I sit and listen. I marvel. I wonder. How does the passage of time march so fast? I say it myself over and over again. How does this happen? Am I paying attention to what is important? In another six and half years, my daughter will turn thirteen. I am certain I will still wonder the same about time. There are days when the passage creates an intense sorrow. My inclination is to clench my fists tight and hold on to what I am witnessing. I realize the futility of this thought. Sometimes the desire to not let time pass or stay in one place cheats us out of really immersing ourselves in the moment.
I watch while she is enamored by the sand castle. She focuses on the hearts, the stairs and starts to ask, “How did someone make this? Isn’t it cool Momma?” She is completely taken in, not worrying about what has happened before or anticipating what will happen in the future. And I learn a lesson.
Now, I whisper to myself. Quietly and loudly. As tears stream down my face.
Welcome! I am a lawyer turned freelance writer, essayist, and editor. On staff at Literary Mama and the co-founder and co-editor of the literary journal, The Sunlight Press, my essays and reported work have appeared in The Washington Post, The Lily, Saveur, Civil Eats, Brain, Child, ESPN and elsewhere. I am currently at work on a memoir on grief and culture and how it provides perspective on life’s ordinary graces. I invite you to appreciate the ordinary with me. I hope my daily practice of seeing the magic in the mundane helps you celebrate and find more of these moments in your life too.
I remember when the half was important, too. Now….not so much. LOL.
Rudri, yup, it just keeps getting harder as they get older, but she’s right: we need to treasure today because soon today will be the past. Thanks for this reminder.
The innocence teaches us lessons…we have this moment to treasure. Time is flying by..the older we get the faster it flies. A wonderful picture of your beautiful daughter. She sounds so sweet..I remember having a mood ring many moons ago 🙂 So hard to let go of the thoughts of the past and the future…do as your daughter does and live in the moment. xo
My son will be 4 in 3 months and is going to start preschool in August. He’s a little aprehensive about it and is going through a phase where he pretends to be a baby again (like wanting to ride in his sister’s stroller, talking baby talk, etc.). As I watch him struggle with being a “big boy”, I’m so aware of how everything is going to change when he starts preschool. He’s growing up whether either of us embraces it or not. This is such a lovely post on living in the moment.
How perfect the sand castle is for your message since they are impermanent; to be enjoyed and experienced now since time and the surf’s elements will quickly sweep it away. Sandcastles, like present moments demand our attention or we miss them.
And I’m with your daughter by the way, how did they make that? It’s an amazing specimen!
So precious and so fleeting. When we’re young we hurry time along and when we’re older we struggle to slow it down. (Do I detect my favorite place in the world in the background? Is that the Grand Floridian at WDW?)
So many lessons in priorities to be gained from our children. This one is a beauty.
I just spent the weekend with my grandson, who is still a toddler. Nothing was clearer to me than the fact that he was always totally immersed in the present moment. He doesn’t yet consider what has gone before or what will be. It is a lesson that I need to learn over and over.
Mood rings and sand castles and wonderment…truly moments to cherish.
Now is so important and if we can focus on just that, life would be so much better, wouldn’t it?
Yes. I still have problems honoring the moment. Continual reminders help me.