Semenick family: First Memories

At dinner two nights ago, Will, (all dressed in his skeleton pj's and cars slippers), told us that he wanted to eat at the table instead of sitting in his highchair. I said ok, and slid over across from Aaron so he could have my seat. He was quite pleased with himself and made it through half of dinner before being put back in his highchair to finish his meal.

This was the first time Will's asked to sit at the table with us, he happily climbs into his highchair most evenings, sits in between Aaron and I, and chats away to us about his day. I know it's nothing special, him sitting in a chair and all, but for some reason it just seemed like such a drastic change... a milestone in a way for me. My baby is no longer a baby, and my toddler is growing into a boy. It's amazing how much emotion a mother can feel with an event as simple as sitting at the dinner table.

For some reason this tiny event reminded me of a conversation we had with some friends over New Years. We somehow got on the topic of first memories, and what each of our earliest memories were. Some of us had very detailed and specific first memories, others of us had sporadic ones. It got me thinking about what Will's first memories are going to be. He's around the age where he could potentially remember events in his life, and as a parent, you never know what memories are going to stick with your child. Will it be the birth of their sibling (that happens to be my first memory), a special outing, or something as simple as having dinner with your family. As I was sitting in Will's room reading books and rocking him before bed, I starting wondering what he would remember about his childhood when he was an adult. Would he remember the wonderful memories we are making each day right now? Would he remember all the fun activities we did together? or would he remember how many times he was put in time out for not following directions.

I can't predict the future, but I can tell you what I hope he remembers most from his childhood. I hope he remembers having dinner with Mommy and Daddy every night as a family, and how Daddy acts silly and makes him laugh hysterically while he eats cookies so he gets chocolate all over his face. Or how Mommy always gives him just one more kiss at night... even though she's given 30 already. I hope he remembers the books we read, the snuggles and trips to the donut shop on Sunday mornings. All the robots and shadows and cows we have banished from his room in the middle of the night, and the countless games of peek-a-boo we've played together. But most of all, I hope when he grows up his memories include ones of love, happiness and fun times with family... because that's what childhood should really be all about.