Moments

From this moment (Shania Twain); This magic moment (Jay and the Americans); One moment in time (Whitney Houston). Three songs all expressing the specialness of that unit of time we refer to as a moment. For me, the word moment is neither special nor particularly eagerly anticipated. Let me explain. Somewhere along the path to verbal expression, my two year old began referring to his process of filling his diaper as “a moment” as in “Luke are you OK?” “A moment daddy, I’m having a moment.” Perhaps this is the “magic moment” Jay sang about. It is possible that Whitney was referring to just such a “moment in time.” And Shania, herself a parent, may have written “From this moment” to describe how her life would never quite be the same after experiencing her child’s first. We are often told to live “in the moment.” I will choose not to. It is bad enough having to be in the same room with the result of “a moment.” The “moment” is often accompanied by strange sounds and grunts that would normally be heard near the monkey cages in a zoo rather than my living room. Combine the sounds with the intriguing aroma that only a young child can produce and add in something that surely must have come from somewhere other than my child and you will understand why the next time someone asks me “Can you wait just a moment?”, I will rapidly exit the room.

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