The Best 5 Minutes

As I sat at the computer this afternoon, Kim handed me nearly 6-month old baby Kai and a bottle of milk. I never balk at this opportunity because I know they don’t happen often.

If I play my cards right, I can feed Kai his bottle, perform a token 30 second burping routine and then hand baby back to mom where he’ll then shoot half a bottle’s worth of milk onto mom’s shirt like the Old Faithful geyser.

As I held Kai in my arms and attempted to find the ideal bottle to mouth angle, I noticed his two tiny hands grab my hand. One of his hands latched onto my thumb and the other hand grasped my little finger. In unison, he moved my hand and bottle into just the right position, making it easy for him to feed.

And he held my hand in that position for the next 5 minutes as he finished the bottle, never once taking his eyes off mine.

Although this is our fourth child I’m still amazed at how small children can touch our lives. Before I had children I would have dismissed this notion. Maybe it’s a matter of holding your own children that makes the difference.

I wouldn’t have given much thought to how a child could connect with me at such a young age. But holding Kai in my arms and looking straight down into his big blue eyes while he grips my fingers as if his life depended upon it, I can now appreciate one of the best 5 minutes of my life.