Yesterday I was having a nice little moment with my four-year-old, Abigail.
I had a plate of raw vegetables I was noshing on, and she came to join me. I had to chuckle as she went straight for the cucumber.
I’ve written elsewhere about how my little ones come to like cucumber.
Eight for eight, by age four. Not a bad record.
But what really got me smiling inside was a comment she made to me about my selection of carrots, cukes, yellow squash and celery.
She pointed to the celery and said, “When I get big as Emma [age 17] and Sara [age 16], I’ll like those.”
Such a silly little utterance, but so fraught with significance in my little universe! She has intuited the lesson that what is natural to her now (disliking celery) is fine for now, and that what is different about later (liking celery) when she’s “big as” my older daughters) will feel natural to her then. And everybody’s okay with this.
Being in tune with the rhythm of development brings so much peace.
It brings such a positive momentum toward anticipated change, without compulsion or manipulation.
Abby already sees her life as a process, and her own development as something to anticipate with a contented acceptance that she will progress in a natural timeline.
And she trusts that everyone around her is pleased with who she is right now, even as we know her to be a dynamically evolving being.
Who knew that such wisdom could be imparted by a plate of veggies?
For more on how the Phases of Learning play out in a large family, see “A Thomas Jefferson Cultivation” >>
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