November 7, 2011
Small Victories
I went out on a walk with my 4 year old Gabriel yesterday. "Where are we going?" he asked as I helped him put on his shoes.
"Nowhere, "we're just walking."
"What do you mean?"
"We're going out to wander. It's a beautiful day."
"But where are we going?" he asked again suspiciously.
"Nowhere. Which way do you want to go?"
He pointed towards the river.
We walked and talked. And we talked and walked. We discussed ducks, Louis Armstrong, the nature of rocks, clouds, snowfall, wind, big brothers, blood, girls, trees and a few other things.
Gabriel directed me to take pictures of him standing on various rocks and benches.
At Brooklyn's Pier 1 park, we spread out on the empty lawn and looked at the blue sky. He ran up the hill, rolled down it. He put grass on my head. More talking. Then, a skinned knee after a second run down the hill ended up in the gravel. No. Big. Deal.
We circled back around by the Brooklyn Bridge and passed a neighborhood playground. "I used to go there when I was little." Gabriel looked through the fence, "We found a bone in there once. Maybe some kid died in there."
He wanted to walk by his school (Empty on a Sunday and deemed creepy. "I thought the teachers lived here... It is very quiet now.")
Soon we were back in familiar territory and then home. The four mile wander was over. He ran through the door to find his brother... they started playing/wrestling immediately. No talk of where we had been. No mention of the walk later at bedtime either.
But this morning on the way to school he asked, "Dad, can we take another walk soon? You know, one where we don't go anywhere."
Victory.
11/07/11 07:34 PM
Darshan said...
Awesome.
I look forward to taking little adventures like this with my son.
11/08/11 12:55 AM
Jacinda said...
I have a 4 year old too. My son's life is so scheduled and full that we almost never just wander without a "purpose." Thanks for the reminder to slow down.
11/08/11 09:20 AM
sophia said...
victory for both.
the mind of a four year old is always entertaining, and never short of amazing.
11/08/11 11:11 AM
Duncan said...
I do something similar with my (almost) 3 year old daughter. We hop onto the bike--she sits on the child seat behind me--and we "get in adventures".
We end up talking about all sorts of things; stopping to feed the cows, or to have a drink; explore strange new places and just hang out.
It's a lovely experience.
11/08/11 11:28 AM
Anonymous said...
Simply wonderful - thank you
11/08/11 12:00 PM
pete said...
Lovely. Thank you for sharing.
11/08/11 12:21 PM
Sue said...
so lovely, i got goosebumps.
11/09/11 10:12 AM
Sahba said...
Thanks so much.
11/13/11 01:13 AM
Kari said...
I continue to love your blog--so much so that I mentioned it in mine (see website). I also have a gabriel. :-)
11/26/11 11:27 AM
georgia said...
your thoughts inspire mine...thank you for sharing them in such an explicit way
03/04/12 02:52 PM
Anonymous said...
your writing is beautiful ... inspiring