Once on a business conference call with a speaker phone mic I mistakenly left open the young one making noises in the background moved the head of the virtual table to give me some advice. In front of everyone he said:
"When they try to stand up, push them back down. I just mean it happens so fast that you can't blink or you will miss it. Slow it down."
I am a person who has a habit of connecting dots whenever I can. Of course the fall back from that is being oblivious to the obvious in the current moment. In this instance my mind naturally went somewhere else. I recalled a conversation with a former client I really liked personally that was a divorce Attorney who specialized in representing the woman’s side of such conflicts and it went something like:
"Women should never marry until they are at least 30.”
I looked at my daughter and tried to imagine her being 30 as I replaced her binky. Since I got a late start on the parenting gig myself I cannot be sure I will see it, but I tried to picture the event and who she might choose and how I could afford it. The topic of the conference call became background mumbling that I was no longer interested in. I still don’t remember what the call was for.
Now that I have a second one and the older is outgrowing her clothes and attracting friends from what seems like a 50 mile radius it seems that slowing things down really just means to enjoy their moments. Soak in every noise they make, every attempt to crawl, reach for a toy, every step they take, and every display of attitude that while in need of guidance makes me smile inside.
I am so glad my girls are trying to teach me to slow down. They say "Daddy, just sit for a minute."
No comments:
Post a Comment