As I see it

*Could fall asleep sitting up right now, so my apologies if my thoughts are a bit muddled. This just hit me kind of hard so I wanted to remember it.

I was just outside watering my plants (yes, it is 10:30, don't ask!) and the same thought/situation ran through my head that has ran through my head almost every time I have hand watered a plant since I was 4 years old. I water the roots, but I also like to spray the leaves. This goes back to when I was a child living in Texas and my Mom asked me to water the shrubs, and my little 4-year old brain assumed that watering the plants/giving them a drink was like showering - I figured the plants wanted their leaves to get wet; I didn't even consider that the dirt below was what needed the water. I eventually figured out that the roots are what matter, but to this day I still spray the leaves as a courtesy to the plant. It works for me . . .

What hit me so hard tonight is that my son is 4 1/2 and has probably already started gathering memories that he will hold onto for life. He is at the age that I can reflect on and remember quite a few things from. It is a very intimidating thought. What will be important enough to him to hold onto for the next few decades? Will his memories be good ones? What have I done and what can I do to make moments special for him? My first real picture in my head from a moment in my life is right around the age of 2 1/2, so I know that he has been retaining permanent bits of information for awhile, but this still came as a surprise. Life goes by fast. I hope he remembers what he wants to remember.

It is funny to think that years and years down the road he may be calling me with a question about the past, just like I just called my Mom to ask how old I was when we moved to Texas.