A Three-Year's Philosophy

My oldest is three years old. I believe this is definitely a very precious time in their lives whereby they are starting to investigate the world around them and finding exactly where they are placed.


This little boy has a problem with motion sickness. Its the one characteristic I prayed he would not inherit from me. Well... In all of God's humor, he was blessed and/or cursed with this attribute.

On every car trip 45 minutes or longer, he has an up-chuck. I really feel horrible for the little guy. I know from personal experience the horrors of the puking spells.

When he knows that funny feeling is coming, atypically he lets us know in order that we may avoid the lovely smell of puke in the car. But this child has made a discovery... in his little mind of his, he has realized, "If I let Mom and Dad know that I need to puke, then we are going to pull over and we get to enjoy the view."

The first time this occurred he was in the car saying that he needed to puke but not in a way that you know its an emergency through his tone of voice. We pulled over to the first gas station on the way.

There the little guy was leaning over in the up-chuck fashion as if there was something coming. It was coming at least I thought. A minute went by.

"Do you really need to puke?" I said.

"Yes. Mommy?"
"Yes" I said.
"Are there any grasshoppers in the grass?"
"Yes. There are probably grasshoppers in the grass but I do not see any. Do you really need to puke?"
"Yes. Mommy, Why does that tree have no leaves?"
"I don't know. Maybe its dead."

This continued for about five more questions. In between each question, I asked if he needed to puke. The same answer came without failure. Yes! And when asked he would lean over in the up-chuck fashion as if it would make me believe him that his acting skills were in question.

I had come to the realization that this child really had to intention of puking instead he just wanted the chance to sit outside the car and look at the scenery in a different perceptive.

Rushing seems to be a part of life. Well I have to go here, to finish this, in order to complete that. But in the end does it all matter. Are we just wasting our time doing the "little things" to make the "greater things" like wealthy, power, and prestige? Whereas, we should being doing things to fulfill the greater purpose. Maybe we all should have the perspective of a three-year old and look at things in a different perspective.

"Get out of the car and sit on the grass," as he would say in his small three year old voice.