Priceless Moments

Last evening, I took LG along to run some errands. Most days when it's not raining we usually go for a long walk looking at the trees, hearing koel sing ku-ku-ku, watching the traffic pass by at crossings and stopping briefly outside pizza outlets.

I wanted to get back home before it started pouring so I was hurrying. LG, on the other hand, was laid back stopping after every 5 steps insisting that I either lift him or pointing to how swiftly squirrel jumped the trees. I went along with his carefree style for a while but had no time for it after 15 minutes of loitering around where we started, after hardly moving forward by 10 steps. So I resorted to my old trick of just going ahead in the hope LG would catch up with me soon.

The trick, however, didn't work this time. I peeked from behind a curve to see what he was up to. All I could see was he was sitting on the walking track, deeply engrossed in some activity. It seemed like he was picking up something and trying to hold whatever he had gathered in his small hands. I called out for him. He saw I had gone quite far from where he was and stood up to catch up with me. No longer had he walked a few steps, whatever he held in his hand fell. So he went back to the same spot to pick up some more of whatever that was again.

I called out for him again and waited. There was no sign of frustration on his face that it kept falling again and again. He became all the more dedicated ensuring he held it tight in one hand while picking up from the other. When he was ready, he sprinted (yes, literally sprinted) to catch up with me. And he said in excitement, "Mama flowers. Mama flowers". He was truly happy. And went on to count them. One, two, three. He sported a ear-to-ear grin of having made it. A gift for his mama.
This was the same kind as this one.

I was touched. Moments like these don't come too often later in life. I have began to treasure every day I spend with LG and truly enjoying this phase in life. The guilt of not working is past me.

In MasterCard style,

A bouquet of flowers: Rs. 100
Seeds as gift from your son: priceless

Then what? We walked hand in hand to run our errands, came back a while later to go on our evening walk and enjoy nature! Story over.