A happy way to start the month ...

Marlene Terry

Can't think of a better more happy way to start the month than by sharing a recent experience.

Happened when I was babysitting two sweet kids while the mommy, overwhelmed with daily pressures, took flight for a few hours.

The baby (a year old) was happily napping inside while her very active 3-year-old big brother, pushing his bike, proceeded to the sidewalk out front.

"Watch how fast I can go," he said as I stood on the front porch, intercom attached to my shirt so I could listen for the baby.

It was a real chuckle watching those little legs rotate as fast as possible, in order to compete with the next door kid  ... who by the way, had a big advantage in years, longer legs and a much bigger bike.

"Wow," I said as he zoomed past me about 10 feet in back of his friend. "That was almost a million miles an hour!"

... Giggling, he made another attempt.

"That was about TWO million miles an hour," I said, bragging him up on the second pass ... an attempt to take his attention away from the space that had increased dramatically between him and the other rider .

Three, four and five tries later, he finally gave in to exhaustion and screeched to a halt in the driveway. 

The older boy had just cruised by laughing out loud at his easy victory.  

"See," the 3-year-old remarked catching his breath. " I made him feel happy!" 

... An important lesson taught by a little boy content with life as it is ... his cute little shoes on the wrong feet, water from the hose cooling his overheated face and an ear-to-ear smile!

...  As I said. Can't think of a better more happy way to start the month.

♦ Hope you'll let me share your stories and photos here at my new residence "In a Nutshell." Email me at nutshellstories@gmail.com.