Through the Eyes of a Toddler

Every morning when I open the door to Baby C's room I'm greeted with a huge smile and the biggest and most excited "HI!" you could ever possibly imagine. He's just so excited to be awake and so ready to start the day. The enthusiasm is catching, even when it's 6:30 on a Saturday morning and I want nothing more than to crawl back under the covers.

His excitement for new information never wanes - he finds so much joy in the most mundane things, in the simplest tasks, in the activities we take for granted every day. On Saturday he spent more than 15 minutes discovering the lightswitch. I held him up next to the switch and he turned the lights on and off over and over, clapping his hands and giving himself a "Yay!" every so often. On Sunday he helped me unload the bags of groceries - he pulled one thing out at a time and handed it to me to put in the fridge. Eggs. "Yay!" Milk. "Yay!" Orange juice. "Yay!" Yougurt. "Yay!" There was much clapping involved, too. This is how our days go - he helps me put the laundry in the dryer, pick up the peas that fall around his high chair, and put his toys away, all celebrated with a round of applause.

He winds the clock on his laugh and learn chair and dances the same silly dance to the same silly song over and over again. It just never gets old! Every new thing is an adventure. Each pebble on the ground must be studied. Each leaf must be picked up. Each puppy must be petted.

I'm starting to think that this is where we go wrong when we grow up. This is what life is really supposed to be about. Why do we lose that natural excitement for life? What is it about school and work that beats it out of us? Having a toddler of my own gives me a glimpse back into that frame of mind, however fleeting. The hard part is holding onto it.