Tonight's picture was taken in June of 2004. Mattie was two years old. That day, after visiting the zoo, we stopped at a McDonald's drive thru, so Mattie could get his French fries and a vanilla shake. He was the ultimate back seat driver and when I wasn't driving, he loved having me sit in the back seat with him.
Quote of the day: See the world through the eyes of your inner child. The eyes that sparkle in awe and amazement as they see love, magic and mystery in the most ordinary things. ~ Henna Sohail
This evening I was driving in the car by myself and the Kane Brown song, Backseat Driver, came on the radio. I am sure I must have heard this song countless times before, but tonight, I actually listened to the lyrics. All I can say is wow! It captures the beauty of looking through life from a child's eyes. If you haven't heard this song, click on the image below!
The beauty of the song is it illustrates how adults and children view the world so differently. As adults we are so literal, we are also jaded by hurt and past experiences. We want to get from point A to point B and we see the problems, issues, and negativity in life. The song points this out, when the adult driving the car with his daughter in tow, observes a woman yelling at her phone on the highway and speeds by him with her middle finger in the air. Naturally we as adults can relate to this incident, but the child in the car reacts a bit differently! Sure she observed the woman's behavior and gesture and asks her dad about it, but seconds later, before he can give a response to her, she jumps to what else she is observing at the same time while in the back seat. Such things as............ "Do squirrels have houses in the trees and Why'd God put stingers on honeybees?"
This song captures the innocence, magic, and awe that lies within most young children. Children share this joy of life with us each day, and really when you hear these observations about squirrels or honeybees, how can you remain mad about the woman driving and waving her middle finger? It isn't like you forget what happened, but children help us tamper down the negativity. They enable us to see parts of the world that we glaze over, take for granted, or that get blurred into the background. But trees, nature, birds, clouds, and the sun for example shouldn't be taken for granted.
As we age, life can harden us. Tonight's song reminded me of the countless times I had Mattie as my backseat driver. His mind going a mile a minute and me trying to drive and keep up with his questions and reflections. These are moments I will never forget and hearing this song tonight reminded me that when life gets me down, PAUSE, and think about Mattie as my backseat driver and the beauty that he always observed that should never be ignored or allowed to be drowned out by the negativity.
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