Its generally not the best way to start the day when you have to get up and shovel 15 cms of snow at 5:00 am in the morning. But that was the way it started for me this morning. So after an hour of back breaking effort, I came back into the house, poured myself some coffee and went upstairs to wake up the kids.
I walked into my 11 year old’s room and was about to wake him up that I just stopped. I looked at his face for a moment and quietly sat down on the side of his bed. I spent a couple of minutes looking at him… sleeping peacefully.
He seemed different this morning. I saw an innocent child trying to grow up as best as he could. I saw him encountering the trials and tribulations of “blending in” with everybody at school, the secret crush he has on a girl in his class, and holding his own among friends and foes. I saw him struggling with his Math homework and trying to make sense of numbers that don’t come easily to him.
I saw him fighting to keep his dreams of becoming a scientist alive. Sometimes, he’s short on ideas, but never on enthusiasm (how come I didn’t see this earlier?) I saw him resenting me whenever we disagreed, but NEVER being disrespectful.
My God, I really have a diamond in my life ! I lay down next to him and gave him a BIG hug for being just the way he was. He woke up moments later and mumbled “G’morning, Dad”. Except for the blast of the strong morning breath, it was the perfect start to my day 
As I drove into work, I started thinking… We call (myself included) tend to look at people from our eyes… and they seem a certain way. But when we really make the effort to look at them from “their” eyes, a very different picture emerges. This morning the person I regarded as a “son” changed into a magnificent human being that I was blessed to call my child. 3 hours into my day and I’m already missing him. I can’t wait for the day to be over so I can go back and ask him how his day went – “from his eyes”.
So let me ask you this (and I’d love to hear back)… Have you “seen” your kid lately?
