SOLSC #7 Understanding time

My son Keith is on spring break from law school.

He and his girlfriend Mara dropped by my classroom to bring me a couple of large boxes.  

He knows me well enough to know I am always in need of a large boxes.  

The children were so very excited to see him. 

I could tell because they went quiet, wide-eyed, watching him, watching me.
They surrounded him, holding books.
(This is the way three year olds size up adults...their faces stare and scrutinize, thinking "will they linger, and share a book with me? Or are they in a hurry?")

I realize, wow, Keith is another adult in the room.  (He is 23 now.)
To my preschoolers, it is incomprehensible that he is my son.  He's simply too big.

Keith and Mara lingered as we began our day, as we sang hello to one another.

We didn't get very far into the song when one child shouted,  

"Ms. Ingram, Ms. Ingram, don't forget to say hello to your brother!"

"My brother?" I laughed, "Oh, you mean Mr. Keith?  

He is not my brother, he is my son." 

The look on these three year old faces was complete confusion.  And then came the chorus of voices, "He is not!," "No, he's not!," "He's not little."

How to understand time?  How to understand years?
These are fleeting concepts.

For children and parents.

The boxes were a big hit!