Slow Luxury

Some people say “lucky” is the word agnostics use for “blessed” – Today I feel lucky and blessed. Yesterday I picked up the registration packet from Ax’s school that I didn’t know I was supposed to pick up, since a few months ago I’d filled out the enrollment packet and couldn’t imagine there’d be more forms. But there were more forms. The lady at the desk said it was okay and we were not the only “new family” to be confused about the two packets pick up situation. Anyway, some of the registration forms were kind of cool. Like I had to review the school standards with Ax and sign that we had reviewed them together and agreed to uphold them. The school standards are: Respect, Trustworthiness, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Good Citizenship.

Each standard had a little blurb beside it to describe what it meant. For example, for respect it said, “Use manners, not bad language. Be considerate of others’ feelings. Don’t threaten, hit or hurt anyone. Deal peacefully with anger, insults and disagreements.”  For good citizenship it said, “Do your part to make your school and community better. Respect authority. Protect the environment.”

He and I got pretty deep into discussing each of these items and their descriptions. A couple of times he asked me what something meant and I had to check the dictionary, the one in my phone of course, for inspiration on what the concept might mean in the context of kindergarten. He took it seriously and each time we completed discussing a standard he’d seem somewhat thoughtful and then say something to the effect of, “I’m great at that!” And I got to say, “Yes, yes you are,” and give him examples of times when he did something that reflected the standard.

It took a while, doing this exercise the way we did it, and I felt the incredible privilege of having the time – being able to take the time – to do that. And the packet made me think of other people who aren’t so lucky, who don’t have that kind of time, or don’t or can’t allow themselves the time they need to set themselves up for magic moments, magic moments that really do add up. People like me, who are rushing, rushing, on the go, so fast, too fast to plug into all that’s here. I’m lucky. I’m blessed. I’m glad I get to take all of this slower now.