by Amy
This little boy has made me love rocks.
Let me explain…
When I was a little girl, my dad would walk hand-in-hand with me to the video store and let me rent My Little Pony on VHS. He took me Beanie Baby hunting at swap meets on the weekends. He’d lay with me on the couch and watch Clarissa Explains It All from start to finish. He knew the names of all my friends in high school (even the ones he’d never met). He even knew the names of visiting choreographers at my dance studio. Until I was an adult, it never occurred to me that he didn’t *also* love ponies and Beanie Babies and Clarissa and dance. But he loved ME. He took an interest in what *I* was interested in. Because of that, I have the best memories with him.
That’s where rocks come in.
In the last few weeks, Becks has become a major rock enthusiast. He collects rocks EVERYWHERE he goes. Our backyard. The park. You name it. Last weekend, he crawled around the patio (and parking lot) at church for an entire HOUR collecting rocks, crawling to strangers, and handing them out. I stayed right by his side pointing out “big” ones and “cool” ones. We now keep Tupperware filled with rocks in our diaper bag that we take in the car and to restaurants and everywhere we go. This weekend we’re planning on filling his Easter eggs with rocks. Jordan found an especially big one at the park this morning for him, and Becks crawled with it in his fist everywhere he went and wouldn’t let it go.
Right now, it’s rocks. Later it could be dinosaurs or baseball or monster trucks. Who knows 🙂 But we want to start taking an interest in what interests him now, so we can train ourselves to have that life/parenting habit when it’s easy. When it’s rocks.
Even though he probably won’t remember his rock obsession or likely be a professional at rock collection and dissection (ya know, unless he’s a geologist!) we believe that year after year of consistently showing an interest in whatever interests him, will add up. Because he who can be trusted with a little, can be trusted with a lot. And if we want him to share what he loves with us years from now, we have to love what he loves now.
