Celebrations of Childhood

Children have such a wonderful way of celebrating the good times / accomplishments / goals in their lives. Charlie met a new goal at swimming lessons today - dunking his whole head under water, as opposed to just his face or one side of his head at a time. As I watched from the benches, I saw his whole little body swell up with excitement. He launched himself out of the water seeking me out with his eyes, broke into a smile from ear to ear, and gave me an enthusiastic two-thumbs-up that involved not only his thumbs but his whole arms. The whole routine was repeated about 4 times throughout the rest of his lesson, for my benefit, and also aimed across the pool where his brother was swimming.

But that is not all. No, that is not all. Between the time that swimming lessons ended and when he went to bed, I heard a constant stream of this type of thing:

Did you see me Mom? Did you really see me?
Daddy will be so excited he will fall over!
How many minutes until next swim lessons?
I really did it, Mommy!
William, I can swim like you now!!
Daddy, it was so much fun!!!!!!
Pop, I dunked my whole head!
It was my whole head, even the top of my hair!!

This accomplishment fed him, thrilled him, excited him, for almost 6 hours - and I wouldn't be surprised if it continues today.

I wonder when we lose (or reject) that ability to celebrate our victories - big and small? I notice that as adults, many of us pause only a moment when we reach a goal for a little smile, maybe a short phone call to someone important, and then we move on to other thing. We check one thing off our to-do list and move right onto the next. What a loss.

So today, I vow to celebrate the little accomplishments in my day. I will rejoice when the laundry is caught up. I will celebrate the home made dinner on the table. I will look around at my family, my biggest accomplishment, smile from ear to ear, and give them a really big two-thumbs-up.