I don't want to forget these moments

These moments where I drive to pick up Shawners with the wind blowing in my hair through the sunroof and the sunshine falling on my skin. Where the world seems perfect and everything in it's place. When I pick him up he gives me a big hug with open arms, a smile, and a "Look what I did today Mom!" He proceeds to pull out of his backpack pictures he has drawn of easter eggs, pictures he's colored of Jesus risen, a dinosaur he's drawn that his teacher "is teaching him how to draw", a necklace he's made out of beads and a wooden cross, a picture of you loving me, me loving you, and us living in a happy tree. He shows me each one by one and tells me about how, why, and when he made it. We talk about where we're going on a date for the day. Sometimes it's Starbucks with curry chicken for me, milk and a cookie for him, Connect Four for both of us and a book we read page by page taking turns. Today it was Toys R Us. He'd saved up his money for a toy. On the way home he sings, "I I I I I, lo lo lo lo lo ve ve ve ve ve ve you you you you you you!" I remember when he used to say many times a day, "I love you beautiful." Not so far away. I'm sure he still says it, but he's moved on to the happy tree. I tell him, "I love you handsome." I do. These moments are precious and our time is limited. He won't always be in kindergarten. Pretty soon he will be in a class where they are pressuring him to write, to learn, to write, to read, and to write some more. Some days he'll hate it, somedays I'll hate it. And yet, we'll do it, because it's the society of education in this country. There won't be kindergarten days for long and I am sad at the thought of leaving them behind.