glava

River of Kids

Small milestones, near and far, from this week.

Next to me on the bench is an older lady. She is clearly a grandma and her job this afternoon is to watch over her grandson as he goes on the biggest slide in the playground. The slide is so steep that my son refused to go on it for years. But this small kid slides fiercely and every time time the boy lands in sand grandma sends cheers and claps from the bench

A two-hour fight from me, is my brother. His daughter, my lovely 18-months-old niece, is having her first week at day care. She surpasses everyone's expectations with enjoying everything about it. My brother's favorite part of the day is when she starts calling foxes, foxes, foxes from the doorstep of the daycare. 'Foxes' are her orange shaped house shoes shaped, you guessed it, like foxes.

An ocean between us, a colleague is telling me that his son is starting training for navy seals next week. He is beaming while telling me that his son decided that he would be marine when he was eight, and navy seal when he was twelve. This kid has now graduated from a military academy and is on his way to fulfill his childhood goals. His proud dad can't hide it on the video call.

I hear or see these stories all the time, and although sometimes they don't resonate with me, I understand them now. No matter the culture or environment - seeing your kids tackle challenge and succeeding is a perk of being a parent. A relief that follows hours, days or years of worry and care - a reward so grand that rarely can stay unspoken.

My son started elementary school this month. For the first two weeks I was allowed to take him all the way to the classroom, but this all changed last Friday. I am not allowed to enter the school anymore. Asking him to go into the new environment alone was really hard on him the first few days. But not this Wednesday - he hugged me, kissed me, let go of my hand and jumped into the river of kids that was flowing into the school. Before I could take a deep breath of relief, he was already inside talking to a classmate. I turned my back, pulled out my phone, and dropped voice message to my wife - words rushing out, telling her he made it, knowing that she will be beaming thought the day too.