Today wasn’t a great day. I nearly broke down with an anxiety attack on 3 separate occasions. I came home and had to make some phone calls regarding my family. When I was done, my son came running up to me calling my name and gave me a big hug. He just stared at me with those big brown eyes and silly smile and asked if I was okay.

He takes the weight of anxiety off my chest and when I am parenting him, I am truly happy and in the moment. He calms me down, helps me speak softly, and be gentle, loving, and kind. He brings out the best in me.

Yesterday I bought him pants with stars, the moon, and some planets on them. He was so excited and ended up wearing them today. He told everyone he was wearing the “moom” as he calls it (moon). Today at dinner I showed him pictures of galaxies, moons, the planets, nebulae, and space to get him to continue eating as he is a super picky eater. With each picture his entire face lit up in wonderment and happiness, asking what each one was and repeating it to the best of his ability. After each one he asked for more and would call them by name.

As I watched his little face light up time and time again, I had an Ah-Ha moment. It is so important to take in the wonder of it all. We live in such a brilliant place. Space is so immense and beautiful, yet the majority of people don’t give it much thought – me included, unless my son asks for it of course. We have to take more time to appreciate the small things in life: like appreciating the colors and vibrancy in a picture of space, or looking at a picture of Earth and realizing we are such a small part of the universe, or taking in how vast it actually is. If we look at something with a child-like wonder again, the world could be a magnificent place.