Little Moments

We had just pulled up to the school. Tyler's friend that we carpool with got out and started running toward the door. Ty likes to keep up with him so they can stand next to each other in the line to go to their kindergarten classroom. But he forgot his backpack. I rolled down the window.

"Ty! Your backpack!"

"Aww man!" he yelled, as he quickly turned back to come and get it.

"Have a good day. I love you!"

"I will. You too." he said, turning around to try and catch up to his long-gone friend.

At this point I would have normally driven away, heading off with Lauren for errands, or a lunch date with Brad, or presidency meeting, or whatever plans I had for that afternoon.

But I didn't. I thought of my friend Anna, who recently wrote about the same kind of moment in her blog. (I would link to it, but it's private) We went to Time Out for Women together, and a couple of the speakers (Linda Eyre and her daughter Shawni Pothier)really emphasized Cherishing the little Moments in our lives. In fact, we were encouraged to

• Remember the Moments
• Acknowledge the Moments, and
• Watch for the Moments

Time slips away so fast, and sometimes I find myself not enjoying the journey as much as I should.

Anyway...with all this in mind, I decided to just wait and watch until he got all the way inside before I pulled away. And I'm so glad I didn't miss this little moment:

As he walked up to the door, a little girl was already there and was opening it. I thought he would race right by her through the open door toward his friend in line. And he almost did. But then something clicked and he took the door and held it for her to go through first. And she did. Then they did it all again through the second door. As she went through that second door, and he stood there holding it for her, he turned to look at me, perhaps to see if I had seen his good manners.

I did see it. I had stayed to catch a moment, and I wasn't disappointed!

I gave him a big thumbs up, and he returned it with a big smile and thumbs up himself. I was so proud of my little man, and so glad he knew I had been there to see it.

Just a little moment, really. And yet it made a big difference in my day. I felt like a better mom. I was so proud of Ty for treating girls with respect and being a gentleman. I look at him a little differently now. He really is growing up.

And to think I almost missed it...