* This is an edited version of a post that appeared on memyselfandkids.com back in the summer of 2011. It’s my contribution to Throwback Thursday.
Dye your hair, rid yourself of wrinkles, enhance your energy etc.
All you have to do is turn on the television, scan your phone, flip on your computer, or open a newspaper/magazine to see/read some sort of advertisement whose stated goal is to make you look or feel younger.
We live in a culture where there is a drive to be young. While I wish I had a full head of hair, when I wonder what it would be like to be younger again, it has nothing to do with the physical.
This morning BR came down stairs. He looked at my wife and I who were sitting and talking on the couch discussing our daily plans like football coaches game planning for the upcoming foe.
Anyway, he had a smirk on his face even as he was wiping the tired out of his eyes, and he said, “It’s tomorrow, today.” He said it a second time, and that seemed to be his whole message. He was that excited for the trip we have planned to a water park later in the week. Youthful enthusiasm.
SJ will be celebrating his 5th birthday in November. It’ll be his first birthday party we are making for him that will include his friends. He’s talking about this party incessantly and invites and uninvites me on a regular basis.
According to SJ, the birthday is tonight, and it should have been every night of the last two weeks. This morning I showed him a calendar. We sang the months of the year song that he learned in school. I then showed him that there are many days till his birthday.
He shook his head indicating that he understood. Skip a beat. A moment later SJ informed that his birthday party was tonight. Palm slap right to my head. This kid ain’t gettin’ it.
But then I realized why he is not getting it – it’s about youthful enthusiasm. It’s tomorrow today.
Both boys are experiencing pure and utter joy – like only the young can. Beautiful, just beautiful!
So, while I really would love that full head of hair, I want what my children have. We adults no longer experience the pure and utter joy of youthful enthusiasm.
I hope BR and SJ can retain that joy of youthful enthusiasm for as long as possible, and I’ll be content to live vicariously through them.
Photo by Luca Upper on Unsplash.
LOL, we did that on our recent vacation – “It’s X number of sleeps until we leave!” “it’s X number of sleeps until we are at Disney!” That was our equivalent of “it’s tomorrow today!”
Sounds great Kate. You must have had a great time then. Keep up that enthusiasm!