On Owen Time

I like the way my 3-year-old counts the days. His weekends are actually three days long. His Labor Day weekend will be four.

I ask him how he's getting these numbers and he says, "You told me! Mommy! You said! You say we haf 'fhree' (three) days off!"

"Do you think I said 'free days' instead, maybe?" I say with genuine question in my voice.

"No! Lemme count them for you," he answers with equal parts exasperation (how can the grown-ups in his house be so dim-witted at times?) and precision. "There is FRIDAY, as soon as Daddy comes real fast to Growing Stick to pick me up. And there is SATURDAY, which is a stay-at-home day. And there is SUNDAY, where we have the church day where we all-together go to church, with you and me and Miles and Daddy and I go to the classroom with the teacher Mrs. Shea that I like."

Well, OK, then, he HAS an answer! It's just not the one we think we taught him, because we wouldn't think his day count is correct.

But ya' know what strikes me about this 21st century, little-boy logic? It goes way back, as in ancient, and it's quite possibly more right than mine. Owen's time reminds me of Biblical times. Recall: How many days was Jesus dead before he rose again? Three. Whereas I never got this idea as a kid -- if he died on Friday and rose on a Sunday morning, how is that 3 days -- Owen would immediately get it, I bet. Because he marks time the way the Jewish community did.

Jesus died midday Friday, and the day continued -- one. Jesus was dead on Saturday, which ended at dusk -- two. Jesus was dead from Sat. evening to Sunday morning -- three. Three days.

The Biblical example is a good reminder for me, that we all have more "day" in our days than we might first think. Most of us adults have time enough to do more than we believe, I suspect.

I often collapse after work and dinner and then feel grouchy that "I got nothing done today" or "I've given up my whole day!" But my day isn't over when I'm saying that. I may have given up, yes, but more "day" stands to be measured, and used, to whatever constructive purpose my will commits.

Owen doesn't write off an evening just because there was work and school during the day. His weekend starts EXACTLY when his dad shows up on the other side of the glass door (probably with a Dum Dum sucker or a snack waiting), and he leaps from the lap of Miss Shawna into Jeremy's arms.

That kid lives full out. He fills his time, all the time. He measures what can be savored and what is special in every day, not what commonly gets discounted as the margin. And I'd like to follow suit.

...Let the weekend begin!