Lessons in love, from my 6 year old.

     So the other day I decided to make another attempt at teaching my, very active, six year old son to meditate. He is a boy who never stops moving, unless he is asleep! At any given time of the day he can be seen romping through the house, making all manner of interesting sound affects and acting out epic battle scenes or racing up and down the hall, making race car noises. He seems to have boundless energy! He can run circles around me all day long and the later it gets, the more energized he appears to be! On vacation he is the one jumping from bed to bed at 1am, while the rest of us are ready to pass out! He is fun and engaging and creative and sometimes, he can be exhausting!  So, having reaped the rewards of meditation for myself, I thought perhaps my little speed racer could benefit from a few moments off the race track. Our meditation went something like this:

      We started out by sitting on two yoga mats, facing each other. I put on some relaxing music and turned back to my son who immediately slumped over (very dramatically), as if he were asleep. After snapping a quick picture (because he looked so silly, half sitting, half laying down) I coaxed him to sit up again. He did so but then got the urge to hop up and start acting like a cat, bouncing around on all fours, pretending to swat at bugs. He was very convincing.

     I somehow managed to settle him down again but his eyes were roaming all over the place, no doubt trying to find ways to amuse himself while I attempted to teach him something he instinctively knew would be BORING! I decided to ask him a few questions to see if I could bring his awareness inward a little.

     I asked him if he could imagine what he might be like when he was an adult. He said no. I asked him if he could imagine what he would be like when he was his brother's age (13). Again, he said no. I asked him if he could imagine what it would be like to be seven and he shook his head. I decided the future was still a little too obscure for a six year old and asked a question I thought he might be able to relate to better. I asked him to describe what his day would be like, if he could choose any day he wanted. His face lit up! He threw his arms up and out and said, "FREEEEE!".

     I laughed at his enthusiasm and then asked him to elaborate on what a free day would be like for him. He described a day of endless video games, Legos and food! We talked about his day for a minute or two and then I explained my position as his Mom and my obligation as a home-schooling parent, to make sure he was learning every day. Before his eyes glazed over with boredom, I suggested we make a deal: He would spend some time learning what I wanted him to learn and then, he could have the rest of the day, FREE! We shook on it. It was a long conversation, (about 3 minutes altogether)  as conversations with him go, and the whole time I had to resist the urge to scoop him up and cover his adorable little face with kisses!

     Making one last attempt at meditation I asked him to close his eyes and take a deep breath.
Lots of exaggerated huffing and puffing ensued, but I didn't give up and finally, he seemed to give in! He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. I asked him to repeat the words, "I am happy". He cooperated! I asked him to say, "I am peaceful". He repeated that too. I asked him to say, "I love myself" and his is big blue eyes flew open as he said, instead, "I love YOU!". My heart melted a little as I laughed and assured him that I loved him too; but that I would really like for him to say he loves himself! He said again, even more emphatically, "I love YOU!". More laughter and more struggling to stay on task and not get "distracted by his cuteness" (literally one of his quotes!), and assured him that I was glad he loved me, but I really wanted him to say he loved himself as well! He took a deep breath... and said with feeling, "I love you MORE than I love myself!".

     It was one of those moments where nothing else matters anymore! I could no longer resist the urge to scoop him up in my arms! He snuggled in close, his little arms around my neck, his small body pressed against my heart, his sweet kisses peppering my face and I allowed myself to savor the moment before I whispered "I love you more than I love myself, too!".