Today was basically the quintessential winter day in New Hampshire. It snowed lightly all day, laying down about 4 or 5 inches of snow that is sticky for snowpersons. It was beautiful outside, everything looking clean and fresh. The temperature was hovering around 27 or 28, so, it was warm.
Levi, who is my 3 year old son, likes to ride on the sled to the bus stop to get his older brother, so off we went.
I saw a tree.
A pretty and small tree that was skinny on the bottom and twiggy on the top. The snow was stuck to it and it looked beautiful. (see fig. 4.3)
"Levi, look at the tree," I said, pointing to the tree, "It's pretty, isn't it?"
"No." he said.
"What?" I asked.
"No." he said.
"What?" I asked.
"No." he said.
"What?" I asked.
"No." he said.
"What?" I asked.
"No." he said, "It's not pretty."
"Pfffft. Okay." I said, as I started off toward the bus stop again, pulling the sled behind me.
I turned to give him a wink and a smile, and you know what? He was looking back at that pretty and small tree that was skinny on the bottom and twiggy on the top!
Although a child can't really acknowledge that his scope of the world emerges largely from his parent, the fact that levi gave the tree that second look reassures me that he is listening and exploring and (not just) pushing against me. I'm okay with all of those things because I love him (and, he does enjoy what snow can do to a small tree).
