Crazy Little Things

As parents we do lots of silly things for the sake of our children. We put underwear on our heads and sing the wrong words to “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.” We turn summersaults and bark like dogs. We sing “Jingle Bells” at the top of our voices in July and slurp spaghetti. The things we do for those little giggles.

A lot of the things we do for our children involve slowing down, taking our time, noticing the little things, and seeing the ordinary as fascinating. Even things we would normally think are annoyances can be exciting.

Both of the boys love trains, especially Justus. For him, it’s not just a normal little boy fascination with trains. It’s obsession. I’ve heard him “choo, choo” in his sleep. In order to get to Matthias’ school, you have to drive over a set of busy railroad tracks. When we are at pick-up and the whistle on a train indicates that it will be passing by soon, all the cars quickly head for the far end of town to try to pass over the tracks before the train gets there. Our car? We slowly make our way toward the tracks, trying to get caught behind the train. Even better is being the first car stopped at the crossing so they both have a great view of the engine as it chugs by.

Why am I willing to sit, unmoving in the car, for five more minutes? Because the look on their faces is pure joy. And that’s worth more than the few extra minutes it takes to get home.

You also don’t want to be behind us when driving through a construction zone. Large construction vehicles come a close second to trains around here, so if there is a backhoe or dump truck on the side of the road, we slow to a crawl to let the boys get a good look at it. We’ve also treated tractors as their own exhibit at the zoo, although they are really just used to transport food to the real attractions.

The crazy things we do change over time. I still read “Goodnight Moon” 3,829 times a day for my toddler, then search YouTube for video of sharks eating fish for a six-year old (because who else would really want to watch that??). Regardless of the favorite activity, it says to my kids “I love you and am willing to put aside my agenda to do something just because you like it and it makes you happy.”

What crazy little things do you do for your kids?