DPDF: Stop and pick the dandelions

Dandelion
Dandelion

We were at Regents’ Park on Sunday morning for a kiddie football lesson.  It was the first sunny and relatively warm day we have had in a while, so all four of us went.

A stunning day indeed, the boys were happy to be out running around and tumbling down the hill with their buddies. We had a mini picnic then proceeded to leave.  Papa and little A went a head leaving little Y and me strolling down the path.

My little boy decided to really ssssttttttrrrrrrroooooollllllll and stopped several times to pick up the little yellow dandelions growing wild.  He didn’t just pick them.  He looked at them, analyzed them.  Some were too big, some were too small, some he didn’t pick with the stem (which upset him) and some he did.  But each dandelion that he was satisfied with was for each one of us while we discarded the other’s that didn’t make the cut (literally).

I was getting a little impatient at one point and then just stopped and observed him.  He was paying attention to his environment.  He noticed the yellow flowers.  He noticed the differences.  He realised they were pretty and wanted to pick one for all of us including himself.  So pure, so natural, so beautiful, so innocent, so thoughtful.

It made me realise that I needed to see the world now through the boys’ eyes.  I needed to stop.  I needed to allow him his little curious spirit.

The beautiful lessons you learn through the clarity of a child’s eyes… it’s priceless.