Stooping For Manna

Curled up on the couch with his sketchbook in hand, my son asked, “Mom, if you had a super power, what would it be?”

Within seconds, I replied, “I’d be able to control time. I would fast forward, pause, slow down, and rewind the hands of the clock at will. My name would be Captain Tick Tock.”

Clearly, I had thought about this before.

With raised eyebrows, he studied me for a few seconds as if seeing me anew. “Wow, Mom,” that’s actually a really good one.”

“I know, right?”

He went back to his pages filled with superhero drawings. I had a feeling Captain Tick Tock was about to be added there.

Just before bed, I spotted the finished drawing on the coffee table

:

As I admired my son’s artwork, I reflected on how many times over the years I had longed for Tick Tock’s powers…
When the kids were little, I would have handed over serious bank in order to fast forward the day to “Daddy’s home o’clock”. When the kids got a little older, I would watch them learning and playing together, and wished that I could hit the pause button to freeze time at that perfect place. Now that I have so many years behind me, I find myself fantasizing about rewinding the clock so I could re-do, re-think, or re-visit my past.

• Stressed while behind an elderly lady in line while she fuddled with her “pocketbook” —fast forward!
• Panicked after noticing that my youngest child is at the brink of adolescence — pause, please!
• Angry at myself when I knowingly passed up an opportunity to love my husband — rewind, right quick!