My godson turns 3 today. He is one of the funniest,
smartest, most interesting kids I know. It has been an honor and a joy to be a
part of his life and it happened almost by accident. I was out walking Snoopy
late one night when I ran into the fabulous Miss S who was also walking her dog,
well her boyfriend’s dog. We started chatting and the next thing I knew she and
teeny tiny J Man were a part of my life and my heart. I have learned so much
from the two of them and I thought I would share just a few of those lessons.
Be kind to yourself.
I am my own worst critic and when things do not go the way I
plan I have zero patience for myself. When I first met Miss S and J Man I was
working from home and had up to 10 different projects going at a time. Every so
often I would run into a snag or forget something like my keys, or to mail a
check. My fall back in those moments was, “Sheesh, I’m losing my mind. Get it
together Cas!” After hearing me say this more times than she cared to, Miss S
pointed out to me that I was being too hard on myself. What really hit home was
when she said, “What would you do if J Man said that about himself? Is this a
habit you want him to learn from you?” Bam! That one hit me right between the
eyes. From that day on I worked to change my response when I mess up and to try
to remember to treat myself with the same kindness I try to show to others.
Remember to laugh as much as possible
J Man loves to laugh and have fun but more than that he
loves to make other people laugh. He developed a sense of humor pretty early on
and understands the power of laughter. We have sword fights with uncooked
spaghetti noodles, build block towers and knock them over, and have tickle
fests until we almost pee our pants. During some of the hardest days of my life
he has made me laugh until the pain was bearable and reminded me that there is
joy even in the hardest moments.
Embrace the silliness of life
There is nothing like a child to remind you that being silly
is awesome. J Man recently decided that a pair of toy binoculars looked like a
camera and proceeded to make us all pose for picture after picture, “Say cheese
ever’body”. In his world toy dinosaurs really
do roar, fire engines scream, Snoopy’s tail doubles as a block to make his
train whistle, and crayons can be counted and stacked for hours on end when
learning numbers and colors. In J’s world, even the most mundane object has the
potential for fun. This has translated to my work life where I do my best to
see the silly and absurd in the most frustrating situations. And when this
doesn’t work I just spin around in my chair which is oddly therapeutic.
Happy Birthday My Little Man. I love you with all my heart.
Thank you so much for the gift that you are and for bringing your Mommy into my
life. You are my family.
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