The Cool Guy at the Crosswalk

We joined a gym. 

With childcare. 

This is going to be life-giving. 

It’s about a mile walk from our home. Which isn’t all that bad. It’s a nice form of slow cardio before the real workout. 

A few days ago, we were walking over there. And Ishu was bouncing on his tip-toes along the sidewalk, trying ever-so-carefully not to step on a crack. 

I was trying to hurry us along, making sure he’d catch up to me so we could cross the street together. As he looked up at me, I saw his eyes widen, looking past me. I turned to see what he was looking at. 

A man – who appeared to be neurodivergent – had his arms behind his back and was sprinting across the crosswalk with a huge grin on his face. Almost as if he were playing superheroes. 

Ishu looked up at me with the biggest smile. 

It was almost as if he was saying, “WHAT? GROWN-UPS DO THIS SHIT TOO?” 

It was SO CUTE. I wish I could have captured the whole thing on video. 

Like his little brain was trying to process why this grown-up seemed so much cooler and funner than the other grown-ups he spends his time with. 

And it just made me so happy. 

That there are so many different types of people out there. 

That our world is filled with so many cool people and ways of being.

That he got to see an adult move through the world in a way that made SENSE to him. 

Maybe that’s what I loved most about that moment. That my kid got to see that there isn’t one way to be a person. That there’s space for joy and stimming and bouncing and being completely yourself.

Anyway, happy Tuesday. Hope you’re moving through this world as authentically as that cool guy was. I know my kid is 🙂 

(Also, a big happy happy half birthday to my cool kid. He’s beyond excited to be FIVE AND A HALF today!).