Dancing with a Four-Year Old

I was just on “The Place”, on Fox 13, with my adorable four-year old daughter. This meant we got to drive to the city together, go out to dinner together, spend the night in a hotel together, go shopping together, be on the show together, and then go home together. It was a lot of fabulous “together” time.  And on our way to do some last minute shopping (having forgotten some important items for my segment), I found myself dancing with a four-year old.

I’ve been thinking about that moment a bit, and realized four-year olds are amazing dance partners in this dance we call life. They have wonderment about the world around them that is almost breathtaking when parents see it. Four-year olds thirst for knowledge – all knowledge—all of the time and everything is still new and exciting for them.

Often, as adults and parents, we get jaded or bored with things. Life is routine, and expected. We forget to see the beauty around us. We forget to see the newness in the sunset. And so often, we forget to see the wonderful aspects of life.

My daughter was skipping alongside me, as we walked into the mall, singing a song she’d made up.

Sing a happy song,
sing a happy song.
Sing a happy, happy song.

I asked her why she was singing her song, thinking it was because she was happy to be with just mommy. Really, she said she was singing the song because “the song was in her. She was feeling happiness and needed to let some out.” And, as we passed the dinner guests eating al fresco, singing the song together, I saw that happiness spreading to those around us.

How many of us feel so much happiness that we just have to share with everyone around us – even those strangers?  I think we still feel the happiness, but we let other feelings crowd it out, so we don’t experience it as intensely. Yet, as I joined in with my daughter, I felt the surge of her happiness – and it was contagious. The diners all cast us happy looks as we skipped by their tables.

My precocious, and precious, four-year old stole the hearts of the staff at the news studio. They fawned over her because of how sweetly innocent she was. She was just happy to be along for the experience and enjoyed seeing all the amazing things a TV studio has. She asked simple, but very thoughtful questions about how things worked. But, the highlight for her was receiving an owl’s feather from the manager of the studio. My four-year old was amazed at how soft and light the feather was. She wondered at the way the feather felt and how the feather looked and acted.

The simplest things are often the most amazing to look and think about. My four-year old’s questions, curiosity, and enjoyment of all that surrounds her is refreshing in its simplicity. She isn’t bogged down with cares about fashion, work, bills, or gossip. She is just enjoying and experiencing every moment as it happens – which is something l’d like to develop in myself. So, I’ll keep dancing with her, singing with her, and learning from her as we travel through life together.