Being Four

I've often heard that four is a "good age." I must admit that Caroline's fours are a bit of a blur. We still weren't sleeping very well and Katherine was a toddler so four seemed pretty hard. This time around, I must say that four has not exactly been a breeze. Katherine continues to have very strong opinions and doesn't shy away from letting us know about them. Her tantrums both remind us the terrible twos and give us previews of her teenage years. If the amount of door slamming that goes on around here is any prediction, we had better reinforce our doors before Katherine turns thirteen.

But then there are moments like this morning that let me know that four really is an age of wonder. Katherine called me into her room right when she woke up. Before she left her room she used her flashlight to fix a small piece that had fallen out of a Playmobile scene she had created. And then out in the hall she picked up her magnifying glass and began to examine the rug.

Katherine's eyes were barely opened. Her face still spoke of sleep and yet she had stopped and paid attention. I had been awake for over an hour at this point and I'm sure in those minutes she noticed more than I had this morning. So perhaps this is what four is all about. Still being young enough to pay attention to the world around us... We spend so much time and energy trying to be older and wiser. I think, though, that I will embrace tomorrow with the mind of a four year old. Who knows what I will discover...