The closest thing to seeing the face of God

Image by bess.hamiti@gmail.com from Pixabay

We were just about to leave for Christmas celebration this past Saturday, when my soon to be 4-year-old son shouts out “Wait dad!” and runs off back into the house to our two Labrador retrievers. First the old one got a big hug and a “Merry Christmas Gibson!” and then the 2nd dog got an equally big hug and a “Merry Christmas Jussi!”. And then he tells me “Dad, we must give chewing bones to the dogs because it is Christmas eve, and they should also get gifts.” I was so surprised by this spontaneous display of love and couldn’t stop laughing and smiling because it was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. It was so nice of him, and I was not expecting it at all. But he had it all figured out. That’s one of the coolest (and scariest) things with kids. They are always at least one step ahead of you. I.e., they always understand a lot more than what you think.

Occasions as the one described above have happened many times, but this might be the best example so far. Probably because he is getting older, and his complex reasoning gets more and more advanced every day. When he witnessed my reaction to his affection for the dogs, he instantly knew he was on the right track and that it is a good thing to act more in that manner.

We read together every night, and I have sometimes joked with him. On the final page in one of his books about Pelle Svanslös (A famous Swedish cat), there is a table with images of all the other books in the series. He goes through the whole list and asks me “what is the name of that book?”. After a bunch of sessions, he knows the list pretty well, and so do I, so that’s when I started to pull his leg. For example, one of the books is called Pelle Svanslös and the snow man. When asked about the name of that book, I switched to something completely different like “Pelle Svanslös celebrates midsummer”. And he called me out instantly and we laughed. So, we’ve done that little play a couple of times. Some weeks ago, we were brushing his teeth and preparing for bed when he tells me (with a straight face) “Dad, we have to go to the store now and pick up food and throw away the garbage”. Hint: he always helps me out with that routine, but it is usually carried out earlier in the day. I just told “No, we can’t do that! It is way too late now, and you must go to bed!”. I don’t really understand what is going on and then I sense something and ask him, “Are you kidding with me?”. And then he breaks out into a smile and laughs “Haha, yes I am”. There you have it; The little guy has developed a sense of humour and he fooled me completely… I thought it was very funny.

The moral of the story is that it is extremely easy to forget that the kids understand much, much more than what you think. They see right through you. You might think that you will get away with something only because you think they won’t understand it anyway. I don’t believe that anymore, not with all the proof to the contrary that has been presented to me. And this, is perhaps a reason why having kids is a major reason that your productivity can skyrocket when you become a parent. You must step up your game. I have heard so many complaints about “how little time” you have as a parent. My personal experience is the complete opposite. It feels as if I now have 10X more time than before. Because I have gotten rid of many pointless things in my previous life and focused more on those that really matter. I am not saying I am perfect, far from it. I still have a thousand areas in my life that could use some improvement. But this has really been the best motivator in the world for me.

I once heard that seeing the face of an infant is the closest you will ever get to seeing the face of God. You won’t get away with anything. God knows everything. And children know it too. What a blessing that is.