Developmental Time Flies by

Time is a topic that just gets better understood as the years go by. Not that you can't understand how time works when you're young, but no matter how much you understand it,you are always lurking around the corner for the next period of time. Surely, it will be better than this period of time right now. So if you're young, try to keep up!

I spent some time this afternoon with my granddaughter Maxime. We discovered this new game. She stands up on the chair next to my bed and tries to slap my elbow. It's kind of like that game where one person lays there hands down with another person lying there hands on top of the other person and the bottom person tries to slap the hand of the other person. I can't play that game very well because my hands tend to stay very curled up to my chest while I'm in bed. They are more in the shape of chicken wings then arms and hands! But, that's what made our game work. My elbows sticks out and Maxine can slap at them. At first, I was not moving my elbow, but as she got better at it, I started moving my elbow and the game was on!

The really great part was that no matter the outcome, she would let out a squeal that is adorable. I'm not so sure her mother thought it was a very appropriate game. I'm hoping that it doesn't teach Maxine to hit. But, everyone has to learn the difference between playing and being serious. Technically, I'm not entirely sure she is at that developmental stage at the moment. But, I felt something that was very soft and very sublime. He developmental moment shared between her and I.

A moment in developmental time for a developing young person passes so very quickly, particularly in retrospect! I spent a lot of time this last month trying to get a first draft done on a book I'm considering writing. That time went fast as well, but at a cost of not taking many of the in-the-moment moments in the developing of my grandchildren. One thing that I've learned is that the moment lost is virtually impossible to re-create. True, the memory remains and we have that, but the treasure is in that moment.

True, developmental time flies by, probably even faster than computer time. The only way I have found to stretch it out is to live in it.