Seashells

One of the main things my oldest wanted to do on this vacation was to go to the beach and collect seashells. Her intentions were to collect enough to make necklaces for everyone. Mine were to “accidentally” leave the bucket behind.

While she was collecting intently along the beach, I noticed for every intact seashell that made its way into the bucket, about three broken pieces also made the cut.

“Let’s be careful with our selections. Try to look for the whole ones and unique ones,” I shared.

I was hoping to speed the process along since all selections took careful consideration and the beach was full of shells. Our bucket would be full before we made it a few feet at the rate we were going.

“But look at this one! Isn’t it pretty? I bet it was beautiful when it was whole!” She replied as she ran to show me a shard of a shell.

Her comment made me pause. Who am I to tell her what shells to collect? Especially if my intent was to leave them at the beach. She was happy and she saw the beauty just the same in the broken pieces as she did with the whole ones. We can learn a thing or two from our kids.

Why was I rushing the experience? It was a beautiful day. The sand wasn’t burning our feet. No one was on the beach and we had literally no schedule. So what if the bucket got to be a bit heavier and we didn’t make it far past our blanket? She was happily making memories. I’m glad I was able to pause enough to enjoy it with her. Maybe a shell or two will make it into our luggage, broken or whole- they will be perfect just as they are.