Dancing in the Puddles

Last night it began raining pretty hard and my five year old son went to the window and exclaimed that " the best puddles were waiting to be jumped in." He then said, "let's go jump in them." It was dark and cold outside and for a moment I hesitated and a "no, it is too late to go outside" almost came out of my mouth ,but in that moment of hesitation I had clarity. "Okay, let's do it" I said. It was cold. It was dark,but heck how many times will I get to jump in puddles with my young son ( okay we live in Portland). We put on our rain boots, rain jackets, I got a flashlight and brought my camera. He was right. There were huge puddles. He jumped in. He kicked the water around. He splashed and did not hesitate to splash me. I took photos and we began walking around the neighborhood. We stopped and jumped in every big puddle ( and yes, I jumped in them too). We were cold,but jumping in the puddles was pretty fun. I noticed that my pants were not only soaked,but getting muddy too- I kept jumping. We laughed and even got some neighbors to wave to us and laugh too when they were coming and going from their houses. It felt good to walk in the rain, to jump in the puddles, to not worry about the soaked clothing or mud. I did not tell my son that we had to go in. I let him tell me when he was ready. When he was satisfied we went home. We got into our pjs, I made hot chocolate (with tiny marshmellows), and even lit our first fire of the season in the fireplace.
As a parent I have worked on being present with my child every day, and believe me it is something I work on. Each day I have times that I space or that I am totally in my mind,but I also try to find moments and chunks of time every day that I am present with my child. I take opportunities to live like a five year old and enjoy the most simple things in life. When the words "no" are about to come flying out of my mouth I try to catch myself. What is really important? If I say "no" to this opportunity will I regret it later? So far I have never regreted it.
"Here's to dancing in the puddles", Justyn.