Recently, I found a keychain Scrabble game with tiny magnetic tiles that was given to me before I left my home in the Middle East to live with my grandparents in Maryland, at the shiny age of 14. This game, along with a novel, was my entertainment on the long journey across the world with my older sister. Sure, there was one movie played on each flight, but nothing I was interested in.

I certainly age myself here, but in my 50+ years Earthside, I am astounded at my own decreasing patience with waiting. I used to wait weeks for handwritten letters to arrive, I waited hours for an international phone call to come through, then waited minutes for a fax to print or the modem to dial up. When the internet joined the public realm, a loading website was a test of patience. Today, I find that if a site doesn’t load in instantaneously, I am frustrated. If I cannot get a package in a couple of days, it is an inconvenience.

Yet, in my work with the youngest of humans, I have found that my impatience is a detriment. Infants and toddlers, in their sacred time of pre-memory, are only able to be themselves and cannot be hurried into their development. If you have ever had the pleasure of truly observing (not just watching) a child under 3 and not intervening, you can almost see the brain connections being formed. In fact, if you have ever tried to hurry a toddler, you know that the opposite response is bound to occur because they know their own pace and will not be rushed.

Years ago, our family took the train overnight from Denver to Chicago as a special way to go see family. I found that my body suffered less from the effects of travel and we all arrived refreshed and happy, instead of harried and exhausted. It made me wonder if the time saved flying was preferable (believe me, I still take planes). In the same way, I am curious if our fast-paced, information-full, instantaneous lifestyle leaves us anxious, unsettled, and disconnected. There is certainly far less room for the slower pace of young children in today’s world. So often, I see hardworking families trying to answer emails on their phones while simultaneously “playing” with their children. The pressure to be on-call for work, family, and friends is real. If I don’t answer a text soon after I receive it, people wonder why and I struggle not to feel obligated to answer.

Perhaps, though, we need to take a lesson from babies and toddlers. Perhaps our brains and bodies need time to adjust to a day or a moment. When else will we have time to reflect and learn? Can we challenge ourselves to be offline for 5 minutes? 30 minutes? A whole hour? If we disconnect from our devices, what can we connect with? As parents, caregivers, and educators, what beautiful moments will we witness if we slow down to the pace of the young child and sit with them in moments of wonderment and discovery?

I believe that we all have the time to pause when we give ourselves permission. And that hyphenated time is when the best moments of our lives occur. If you need permission, you can say I gave it to you. (I may need yours one day too.) In the meantime, I hope that you find a moment in your day to pause, to breathe, and to appreciate the place, the people, and especially the children, in your midst.