JDaniel and I set out to rake the leaves in front of our house yesterday. We both rakes in handmade our way from the shed in the back of the house to the leaves scattered everywhere in the front. He was excited about helping mom do a big person’s job.
At first, we did rake the leaves. I raked them into piles and he raked them out of piles. Next, he moved to pick up leaves and dropping them over the curb into the street. He had seen me rake some leaves into the street for the county maintenance department to pick up on Monday. It was a tough task for him. He had to gather leaves, carry them to the curb, squat down and place them on the street. All without falling face first into the street.
After doing that for about ten minutes, he moved to analyze leaves. JDaniel sat beside a leaf pile and looked at the leaves one at a time. He chatted to himself with words only he understood about leaves.
Each leaf was turned carefully in his hand to view it from many angles. He smoothed some out and crinkled others. Finally, I put down my rake and joined him. We chatted about the color of various leaves and the noises I had heard them make. Then we just sat and looked at them together.
JDaniel reminds me every day of the beauty of small things and small moments. He loved helping me rake leaves. He found joy in knowing where the leaves needed to go. He found pleasure in sitting and looking at the leaves and how each was made.
Sometimes I wish we could all have that same innocence we used to have before life hardened us so much. I love to watch my children. Little things like being curious where an ant is going, when we simply look and walk away.
I used to love raking leaves and then jumping into the piles. I wasn’t a fan of bagging them and tossing them to the curb.
How cool to see that joy and wonder through your son’s eyes.
Visiting from SITS. Hope you had a great holiday!