Last night, Jack had trouble sleeping. He was upset at bedtime because he couldn’t find ‘Salmon’–a sock monkey he has had since he was a baby. I calmed him down by telling him that Salmon was what he used to call the boy who gave it to him. In fact, the boy’s name was Simon and he lives far away in Vancouver so we don’t see him very often. He seemed calm enough, but then he heard Bob come home and he felt he needed to talk to him. He realized yesterday that his life is just a day. That’s what he said…that things go by so fast that in the grand scheme of things his life is ‘just a day’. And, he wished he could stay a child forever. And, he wished his friends understood this and wanted to do the same things he wanted to do. Time was running out…one day he would die(I know that is an awful thing to say, but he did bring it up and we have always talked about death openly with our kids). How are we ever to get everything done?
Bob, being Bob, just listened to him and encouraged him to focus on the things he thought were most important. And, then he tucked Jack back into bed…and he slept. We sat up talking about it. It is all ‘just a day’…isn’t it? Wasn’t that the most amazing thing to say? He is coming to terms with his own mortality and for him to word it like that. It just hit me hard. How lucky am I to get to spend the middle of my day as his mom?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Just a day…so simple and profound. Love that little Jack.
dana, your kids sound so cool.
I stumbled onto your site while searching for reviews of the new Telus science center. I don’t often read things I would label as profound in people’s personal and family blogs–mostly they’re clogged with minutiae. But I found your son’s realization of his mortality to be very moving.
I don’t know what else to say, except to wish him a good day.
You’ve got some great shots of your kids, too!