Countless times each day, my children ask me to watch them do something. Sometimes it’s something they’ve never done and I share in their excitement, but oftentimes it’s not.
Recently, my son insisted that I watch him while he jumped around kicking his legs. He then put his hands on the floor and did some sort of donkey kick. I did my best to look really impressed and hope he didn’t realize I was more concerned about him getting hurt or knocking something over than excited about his crazy moves. It must of worked because he just stood there beaming while trying to come up with something else to show me.
Even more recently, I was keeping an eye on my older two children as they played outside. Before long, my son came charging in the house to say, “Mommy, I’ve got to show you something.” I admit that I tried to pacify him by reminding him that I was already watching him out the window. He was adamant that I come to the door to watch him. As I walked to the back door, I imagined the silly thing he planned on showing me.
I was a bit surprised as he just ran to the swing and sat down on it. Slowly, he began swinging and it took me a second to understand what he wanted me to see. Then, I realized I was watching my little boy gain independence right before my eyes. He had figured out how to pump and was swinging all by himself! As he turned around to make sure I was watching, I saw the proud look on his face and I wondered if it was even half as proud as the look that was most certainly on my face.
As he went back to playing, I couldn’t help but be grateful that he wanted to share his achievement with me. This whole parenting thing is such a privilege. Sharing in my children’s successes, no matter how small, is an honor. Moments like that make all those requests to watch some crazy new trick worth it.