I had decided to take my daughter for the ride so my wife could have a few minuets alone to read and my daughter could get out of the house and have some fun time with dad. She was a great sport as always about sitting in those excruciatingly comfortable shopping carts while I walked around looking for something that my wife would actually eat.
While I was browsing the many shelves and bins my little girl would frequently point out things that she thought looked interesting. Often times it was candy or the occasional small toy though in one instance that made me smile, it was a box of rodent poisoning which attracted her because of the picture of the mouse on it. Whatever the items were I began to picture in my minds eye what it must be like for a small child of her age to be shopping in such a fashion.
The first thought that I had was of her looking first at a bag of star-bursts; full of color and bright advertising and then her deciding to point out this item to her father in full confidence that he would agree with her selection and put them into the cart. What horror she would experience -I thought- as the grown man would (In slow motion) shake his head and then walk straight to the produce section of the store and begin to load up on cucumbers, bags of salad and if she were lucky; maybe some oranges. "What a fool!" She would be thinking "Doesn't this guy know what he is doing?" "Why is he getting those weird looking green things instead of those candies? "Doesn't he know the latter will taste much better?"
I wonder what she is thinking? I mean, looking at it from her perspective I probably look like I have extremely poor taste in food. She can in no way understand why I choose cucumbers over cutie pies nor potatoes over pop. I sure do love her.
I think this teaches a very important lesson. Some times I think we have our "Child Eyes" on. Like when you have a desire to run out and buy some shiny new something or other and you forget the wisdom of staying out of debt. Or when you run around chasing "fun" thinking you will end up with true happiness. Parties are like candy; they can be sweet but they will ruin your pancreas and make you crash after the initial rush. There is wisdom the the nutritious lifestyles of the old and mature. They may not be flashy and Red Bull oriented but they have piece and longevity. Remember that my daughters "Child Eyes" were drawn to the rat poison just as they were to th candy and toys and she would have eaten it in a minuet had I let her.
So let's be careful about our child eyes. Practicing The Art of Dedication let's dedicate ourselves to the cucumbers of life and think twice about all that junk with the cool wrapping; remembering that a little candy is okay.
