I have to remind them to take their shoes off in the laundry room so that they'll know just where to find them when next they walk out the door.
I never have to remind them to take those shoes off and enjoy themselves when our paths cross a sandy beach, or a muddy puddle, or cool dewey grass. This they remember as sure as they remember to breathe.
They're good boys, thoughtful, but still I have to sometimes remind them to say please and thank you.
I never have to remind them to say, "I love you." This rolls off their tongues freely and often, without reservation.
We have the same talk, each night when I remind them of those horrid detestable words, "bedtime" and "brush your teeth". I tell them that yes, I KNOW that it stinks, that's it's just plain unfair, that people have to sleep each day (!!!) but that light will come again, sure as certain, and all their adventures will be just where they left them.
I don't have ask them to remember to wake up though. They hit the ground running each morning and embrace every new day wholeheartedly. They will not waste one minute of this day. Each second will be squeezed dry.
I have to remind them to turn their bedroom lights off when they leave the room. They get the standard speech about how money doesn't grow on trees and the rising cost of electricity. Blah blah blah.
But I've never once had to remind them that the sun shines through the skylight at about the same time each day, and it makes the most lovely place to quietly be.
I suppose you could call it selective memory - but if it is, I think the stuff that they choose to remember is pretty great.
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Ride on over to the Ranch for a new post today.