Children and Time

We were at the Erie County Fair last week and saw a new baby calf born.  There is a Fair messaging system of alerts that sends you a text to come to the Agriculture Center to see a birth when a pregnant female starts labor.   So along with over 200 people in the bleachers waiting for this miracle, we found a spot and watched.  It was amazing!

Next to me was a little girl who told me she was turning 10 very soon.  She smiled and squirmed and strained to see the mother cow while she waited for the baby.  The mother cow paced her pen, laid down and got back up a few times, drank some water, moved to hay and ate a little, rested and stretched.  She was watching people, noticing medical attendants in the pen with her and was very clearly on her own schedule unfazed by all the attention.  Almost two hours after the alert went out this mama cow laid down in the hay and delivered a beautiful, healthy 95 pound black and white heifer – who I learned was a female and then named Katie after her mom’s caretaker.  The crowd held their breath during delivery, sent out a collective sigh of both relief and appreciation and then burst into applause.  I was not the only one who cried.

When Katie was born, my bleacher partner looked at her mother and said “Finally!!  We have been here forever!”

Time is different for kids.  It doesn’t work the same way as it does when you’re grown up.

When you are growing up summer feels like forever.  Days are long and weeks are longer filled with stretches of eating, playing and sleep.  Picnics and playgrounds are filled with friends and fun.  With no agenda, children wail for just 5 more minutes and often balk at closing up swim time to go home for dinner and bed.  They don’t quite get it.  But we do.

As your children head off to school or start new programs this fall, keep in mind that they are still going to look for those 5 minutes more.  They are not going to want to swap flip flops for school shoes and tank tops for button downs.  Be patient and prepared.  It’s good to be a kid!

• Practice timing for going to bed and waking up.
• Drive bus or car runs to school to help children feel the schedule of when they will get to their destination or get home. Be sure you check ahead to see how long your child will be a bus rider.
• Eat breakfast and dinner when you will, typically, eat during the school year.
• Talk about time and make some visuals for small children.
• Put an alarm clock or wall clock in older children’s bedrooms, again, bringing time into focus.
• Preschool and school age children should be at school every day. Attendance is critical for success!
• Take time to have fun – this is truly as important, if not more so, than any work time for you or your child.
• Kiss and hug your child every day. Say I love you every day.  Fill your child’s time with love and kindness.

Time goes too quickly.  It is so hard to believe your children grow before your eyes.                                                                Don’t miss a minute.