Go at Your Child's Pace

It sometimes seems like people are always in a hurry. How many times a day do you tell your children to "Hurry Up!"? I know, I'm as guilty of this as anyone else, especially in the morning when we are rushing out the door to get 5 year old David to school on time. I start speaking in short direct sentences: "Isaac, bathroom." "David, clothes." "Isaac, socks and shoes." "Gentleman, coats, scarves, hats." "Let's go - it's 7:20, we need to leave!"

There are times, however, when there isn't a need to rush. At those times, I like to go at their pace, instead of having them try to go at mine. There is nothing like taking a walk with a small child. They just take everything in - paying attention to small details of nature that I would most likely pass by without a glance.

Children don't like to rush. They have no built-in internal clock that tells them that they need to try to cram as much into 24 hours as humanly possible. They take their time, enjoying whatever it is they are doing, until they decide it is time to move onto a new activity.

We can learn from our children. We can learn to relax, to really pay attention to whatever it is we are doing. We can learn to observe, to notice all the small details that we would otherwise overlook in our rush to get to our next destination.

Yes, unfortunately, there are times when we do need to rush. But sometimes we rush when there is really no need to. Once in a while try to slow down. Go at your child's pace. Dawdle a while. Take it all in! Enjoy life a little!