ChezPerky

J went to a birthday party recently (he goes to a lot of birthday parties – he has a very busy social calendar!). As is customary at children’s birthday parties, he received a goody bag at the party. It was a safari party, so he received all kinds of fun things – binoculars (which he was devastated at having accidentally left on the metro), a safari hat, a little seed/planter thingy, and some other fun things. But the most prized possession in that goody bag was, by far, a delightful little notepad and coordinating ball point pen.

He couldn’t be happier with this treasure. He’s been drawing in it, writing in it (to the extent that he’s able to), and has been a happy camper because of it. One of the first things he did with it was make a self-portrait, which he gave to me:

He’s become such a delight to be around. As he gets older, he gets more interesting, more curious, more interactive. He’s maturing at a rate that is unfathomable to us, and it’s amazing to watch his growth. It’s summertime, which is a great time of year for him – he gets to just be a KID for a couple months, with fewer responsibilities (he still has summer homework to do, but we can take our time with it, etc.). He runs and plays hard at camp all day, swims 2-3 times per day, gets lots of energy out, and comes home happy. It’s great.

In the last couple of months, the triplets have gotten just enough older, just enough more mature, and just enough more cognitively aware, that J has discovered that they are actually pretty fun to play with. He’ll help them build trains, or towers with legos, he’ll chase them around giggling, he’ll put on a show for them, push them on their tricycles – it’s endless. And beautiful.

So this morning, he was running around like a maniac, chasing the triplets around the dining room and living room, and popping out to surprise them and they were giggling like maniacs – so delighted for the attention from big brother. I called J into the kitchen to help get his lunch together and he came running in breathless.

“I love playing with the triplets, Eema.”
“I love that you love playing with them now. I’m glad you’re having fun!”
“Oh, it’s SO much fun to play with them! You should try it sometime!”

I stifled my giggle, because he was quite serious and I sensed that laughing at him right then would not go over well, but there he was – all sweetness and innocence. The portrait of perfect contentment. He’s right, of course. We could all stand to play more with our kids – and enjoy this time while we have it. I’m sure he didn’t mean anything that profound, but it really is true – I may not have learned everything I needed to know in Kindergarten, but this kindergartner (now a rising 1st grader) has taught me a lot about perspective.