Turning the Car Seat Around

Facing forward at last!

 My grandson Hudson used to sit in his car seat facing the rear, staring at the upholstery and the small mirror above.

A few days ago, my daughter turned his car seat around, and lo and behold Hudson, sixteen months, looked up and out.   Stunned for a moment, he grinned and then laughed.  It was a whole new world!  Once on the road, he saw houses, trees, stores, cars, and people passing by.  Never viewing life from this position before, he sat mesmerized at the action around him.   There was no turning back.

                                                

Loving the phone

What a feeling, I thought—suddenly discovering an entirely new existence just by swiveling a hundred eighty degrees. 

 Which got me to thinking.  When was the last time, I was so surprised, so awestruck, that I stopped  in my tracks with innocence, with wonder. 

Machu Picchu, I remembered.  When we finally plodded up the hill and climbed the steps of this ancient Inca city, I gasped at the enormous grassy terraces filled with crumbling structures before us.  

Machu Picchu, Peru

 It was an incredible sight, and I was stunned into silence.

 And boy, that’s something for me.

But do you have to trek to Peru or China’s Great Wall or the enormous statues on Easter Island to feel that way again? 

Sometimes it’s closer than you think.

Oh I know that they tell you to smell the roses or take a walk in the park, and that’s all very good, but you gotta feel it inside.  It’s got to strike you in the heart, stop you in your tracks.

 

And that’s the thing about babies.  When they experience something new, you see their natural surprise--their eyes twinkling, glittering, and an enormous grin spreading across their face.   

There’s no hidden agenda, no effort to make a sale, impress, flatter, or beg.  It’s merely the face of pure innocence, and it knocks us off our worn jaded feet.   

But do we need a toddler to help us step down from our complicated reality into a simpler but more heartfelt existence?

  

I hadn’t noticed till recently how happy my husband looks when I enter a room—how he smiles and how his face relaxes when he sees me.  It surprised me at first, and then I smiled too, suddenly realizing that his subtle expression changes a lot about me.

So look around.  The innocence still shines.  Go connect with a preschooler, or better yet, turn that car seat around.  There’s a whole new world out there.