I’ve been using the TimeHop app lately to check out my old Facebook posts – a part of me feels like I’ve been rushing too much over the past decade and I want to make sure that I don’t lose any important moments. In an attempt to keep the pace of life as slow as possible – I often ask each kid before bedtime to tell me about their day.
Sruli who is only a few months shy of 7, takes this routine very seriously. If I spilled a fruit cup on my desk, I might get frustrated in the moment but I’d probably throw out the experience along with the paper towels.
“I had recess, then I ate my snack, you know those cups with the water in them and the fruit,” Sruli began. “I left it on my desk, guess what happened to it,” he continued.
- “I don’t know,” I said a little too flatly.
- “Guess,” he persisted as if I hadn’t understood the premise that not knowing the answer doesn’t preclude guessing.
- “Another kid ate it?” I guessed
- “No”
- “It fell over?”
- “No”
- “A clown jumped on your desk?”
- “No,” he managed between laughs
- “A dog climbed on your desk?”
- “No, I’ll tell you. It spilled – so I had to sit like this”, he said as he scrunched his body to the side as if to avoid a poisonous snake.
- “So what did you do, did you get a towel to wipe it up?”
- “No! I’m not allowed to leave my seat and I wouldn’t even know where to get a towel. So what happened was that Rebbe came over and saw something on the floor. Another kid had dropped his lollipop. Then Rebbe saw my desk and told me to clean it up. I tried with a piece of paper but Rebbe said that I should get paper towels. I told Rebbe that I don’t know where to get paper towels from so he said that I should go to the lunch room. I saw the pre1a janitor…” [at this point in the sermon Sruli went on a tangent trying to recall the name of the janitor]. Moments later he continued, “The lunchroom guy gave me white napkins instead of brown towels. I took them to class and wiped my desk but then it was sticky. So I still had to sit like this,” Sruli revisits the scrunched up pose. “Then Rebbe told me to wet one of the napkins in the bathroom with water and clean my desk.”
And that was a major part of Sruli’s day. While I had to laugh at all the “and thens,” in the saga, It’s also amazing to appreciate all the concern for detail. Each experience is a new one and something as simple as wiping down a desk can become a whole fascinating adventure. But in truth, if we are spending time we might as well make it meaningful and rushing through the day doesn’t accomplish much. While there is no app for living in the moment, it’s exactly where we ought to be. L’chaim
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