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Alison Konrad

New to the Atlanta Hipster Mom scene as of June 2006, Alison Konrad is a Mom's Mom, Mom-About-Town kind of gal with an arsenal of diving-in-head-first experience in navigating the sometimes complicated World of Motherhood, and the trials and tribulations of juggling the identities of being a working...

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Walking Backwards

Lessons from my son.

The Boy goes to “school” (working-mother-speak for “daycare”) five days per week. He loves it. The husband and I love it. As Martha says – it’s a good thing! Every week since his enrollment as an infant, we have received a calendar describing the songs, activities and skills – fine motor, large motor, etc. that will be highlighted. Some of the song titles do a number on my memory. I find myself doing internet searches for the words to “Patty Cake, Patty Cake” from time to time. I even got a big chuckle when I read that Tuesday’s song was “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam” – I didn’t know toddlers liked Nirvana? But I am not opposed.

The motor skills however, have come to be a new favorite at home – The Boy has generated some hardy parental belly laughs while he shows us how he can “walk on tippy toes” or take “BIG steps.” I am surprised that we haven’t worn out the hardwoods around the dining room table – as the three of us can often be found doing laps around it on our tippy toes.

The most thought-provoking skill of late has been “walking backwards.” I can’t tell you the last time I even thought about the action of walking backwards. It isn’t that easy – I tried it myself and was a little off kilter! It was kind of funny – I started at point A and by the time I got to point B, not only was I a little wobbly, but the room in front of me appeared larger. I caught myself thinking about how as a parent we get so caught up in the day to day, forced to reckon with “the now” that is right in front of our eyes: The cheese grits stuck to The Boy’s chin, the crust under his nose, the pants that are now too short, to name a few of the hundreds of thousands of nuance thoughts that queue through my head on a daily basis. But, when I do take that moment to take a few steps back and get a look at the bigger picture, I find myself absorbed in how much The Boy has grown. How sweet the dimple in his cheek is when he smiles. How much my heart melts when he laughs. How thoughtfully he plays with his toys. How much I adore hearing his little voice sing out “Mommy!”

I get a little misty-eyed whenever a parental-cliché rings true in my life – this one particular being “the baby stage goes by so fast.” I am glad however for moments like these. To see life from a child’s eyes. Taking backward steps made me look at the world in a whole new way. I wonder if that’s how he’s looking at it?

I must remember more to schedule my own weekly  “walking backwards” practices. It would be good for us all to try a new perspective.