I saw the sweetest scene this morning. I was on my way to Curves, and was grumbling to myself because I was behind schedule and was going to get to work late. And I was plotting how I could get the kids to move faster in the morning and how I was going to get Yakir to go to sleep earlier and stop sleeping in my bed and stop climbing on the counter and…… And then I saw a scene that I just loved.
There is a pick-up point for soldiers in Efrat on Sunday mornings and I saw a kid in uniform getting out of his mom’s car. As he walked away with his big bag slung over his shoulder, his mom jumped from the car and said, “Wait!”
He turned around, expecting that he had forgotten something important.
Running after him, she yelled, “I have to get a picture before you go!” Of course, he turned in his tracks and doubled over in embarrassment, but she was not to be deterred. She grabbed one of his friends, had them pose, and captured that moment as her son took off for one of his first weeks in the army.
It is so hard, in the moment, to always make sure to appreciate every stage that our children experience. I know, as I watch my insomniac-devilish two year old get into everything in the universe, that this stage will pass and I will actually miss it. I know, already, that my 13 year old doesn’t shower me with hugs and that my 11 year old can’t be bothered.
I know that these are moments to cherish. I know that they will be gone in an instant, and I will be left running after the boys for that picture as they climb onto the bus and go off to the army.
The trick is to remember how quickly time passes and to try – to try so very hard – to enjoy the ride and the absolute chaos of toddlerhood now. Even in those moments when I can’t believe, yet again, what he’s just gotten into or done.
And that was the reminder that I was blessed to receive this morning.
A beautiful moment shared, and a lovely and poignant insight.
I'll give you a gift from my mother, a"h, that not only saved my sons' lives, but put those toddler antics into very accurate perspective:
"The boy you had at 5 will be the man you'll have at 35."
That wisdom got me through their tumultuous teens, and also gave me a hint of what they might be like as men.
My counter-climbing charmer is now a man who jumps out of planes and flirts irrepressibly. To quote a movie line, "He could sell his grandmother for tuppence, and still talk his way into Heaven." Yeah — you know the boy I mean.
Enjoy those little men — and I give you brachot that you will still be enjoying their amazing personalities, well into your healthy old age.