The little things in life - Shawn's Sense with Shawn Loughlin
The other day I was reminded of the sheer joy that a new discovery can yield when you’re a young person. As we get older and it takes a lot more effort (and, often, money) to impress us or make us happy, my daughter reminded me about the simple pleasure of experiencing something for the first time as we were driving to Goderich.
In my never-ending quest to keep her awake and engaged on drives (she’s always been one of those kids who will very easily fall asleep in the car - our son, not so much), I began to open and close the sunroof on Jess’s SUV. I’d stick my hand out so Tallulah could see the wind hit my hand. She then asked to put her window down (I realized that we likely hadn’t done it now in the era of air conditioning and heating) and boy did she have a blast.
She was hooting and hollering and laughing up a storm as she put her hand out the window and felt the wind whip past as we drove down one of Huron County’s many high-speed-limit highways. What a simple avenue for enjoyment and, yet, here we were.
It really took me back and I’ve tried to see a lot of the world through the eyes of Tallulah and Cooper. They are pretty easy to please at this age and aren’t barking for iPads, the newest clothes and running shoes, fancy cars and whatever else kids want these days, though I’m sure that time will come. I’m trying to learn from them while, at the same time, they’re in the process of learning from me.
The other day in the backyard, while temperatures had warmed a bit, they weren’t quite warm enough for what Tallulah wanted to do, which was play in the sprinkler. Another simple joy that she remembers from last summer and wanted to get back to doing.
Just this week, we bought her a bike - a two-wheel bike (with training wheels) for the first time. The thrill that she has had from learning to pedal on bikes like that one has been another sight to behold. Once she figured out that she can propel herself forward only by pumping her legs and pushing the pedals, she was so proud of herself - and so should she be.
It’s funny because I contrast that with some of the bigger swings we’ve taken to try to impress Tallulah in her life and how some of them have fallen flat. I suppose it’s just another version of buying a child an elaborate present and them being more interested in playing with the box.
A few weekends ago, we took her to London for Stars on Ice, which included some of the country’s best figure skaters. She fell in love with figure skating during the 2022 Olympics and until recently when it was randomly deleted (thanks for nothing, TCC) she would watch a recording of the ice dance competition over and over and over again, dancing (and skating) along on her own. We thought her mind would be blown seeing some of the very skaters from the recording live and in person and yet, it didn’t impress her like we thought it might.
She enjoyed herself and she watched, but she soon grew tired and wanted to leave, so we did. Meanwhile, in the courtyard across the street from the arena was a small Cinco de Mayo celebration that featured food, games and live music. She was even happier dancing to one man playing a guitar than she was in that arena.
So, it’s in that vein that I’m going to work towards appreciating the little things in life. The simple things. The inexpensive things. The things that just spur a reaction from you on a very human level. It’s something we can really learn from our little ones.