Through the Eyes of My Kids

Never before have I been so interested in garbage trucks, construction vehicles or really anything on wheels.  But I am, because Oliver is.  When we're out on walks or riding in the car, I've gotten so used to pointing out anything I think would be of interest to him that I find myself doing it when he's not with me. 

"Oh look, a bus!" I'll think to myself. 

And more than once I've excitedly pointed out a squirrel or a passing dog and then look down at Soren snoozing in his stroller and feel a little silly if a passerby heard me and didn't know that I also have a toddler at home and that this type of "sportscasting" is now just habit. 

Everywhere I go, I'm reminded of Oliver.  I cross two sets of train tracks to get to work and think about him every time and how excited he'd be to see the trains parked in the yard.  Or if I go grocery shopping by myself, I notice the kid-sized cart in the cart corral and think how happy Oliver would be to have snagged one of them.  I notice cars that look like mine, or Chris's, or the neighbor's, not just because it's natural to hone in something you're familiar with, but because Oliver can point out any car that looks like the car that someone he knows drives. 

Even though Soren's interests are still few at his young age, I still notice every ceiling fan.  The biggest ceiling fan I've ever seen is in the warehouse section of Ikea, and I never noticed it until after Oliver was born. 

And just when I think how silly it is that I get excited about driving past a construction site, because I look forward to telling Oliver about it, I'm reminded why co-parenting is so special.  Chris told me recently that he has similar reactions to seeing a line of school buses pulling away from a school-building.  This shouldn't have been a surprise to me that Chris is also noticing the world through the eyes of our kids.  He called me every day when he was in London and amidst the reports of how class was that day or whether he had time to do some sightseeing, he'd talk excitedly about the pictures he took for Oliver of London's "funny looking" garbage trucks or with the toy replica of the iconic double-decker bus in front of London's famous sites. 

Oliver's interests will undoubably change as he gets older, but I wonder how long it'll be before I lose the urge to say, "Oh, look what's coming," if I see a fire truck or a school bus driving down the street.