The two facts which attract almost every normal person to children are, first, that they are very serious, and, secondly, that they are in consequence very happy. They are jolly with the completeness which is possible only in the absence of humour. The most unfathomable schools and sages have never attained to the gravity which dwells in the eyes of a baby of three months old.It is a day that forces the reflection of where the time went. More than your own birthday, your child's birthday marks time passing. After a point I stopped noticing my birthdays. There is no great hoopla. But as kids hit each marker it strikes out. The world is closing in and trying to steal their innocence. They can grow up, but does it have to happen so quickly.
It is the gravity of astonishment at the universe, and astonishment at the universe is not mysticism, but a transcendent common-sense. - G.K. Chesterton
If they lose their amazement at the moon, soon they may stop noticing it shines. I hope she keeps on seeing both, and is never chasing moonshine.
I feel the same way. I just "celebrated" my 30th birthday last month, but it didn't seem to have the impact on me I thought it would. Meanwhile, I mention the ages of my son and daughter and it brings me to pause and see the possibilities that have come and gone in their days that strangely seem to be passing by more quickly than mine.
ReplyDeleteI cry on every kid's birthday. Their birthdays fill me with a sense of urgency.
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