While sitting at the kitchen table and playing Hi Ho Cherry-O with a skinny 5 year old in a Spider Man outfit, I suddenly became aware that this simple little game was trying to tell me something:

The Kids win. And they should. They have it right.

I’m not an old man, really. I’m in reasonably good health. Mentally, I’m on the downslope, and that’s been happening for years. But - I’ve realized that the spinner always lands on the bad spaces. The bird, the dog, the dread spilled bucket.

9 cherries in my bucket? I spin to the spilled bucket space and they all go back on the tree.

And my son laughs. That’s the good part. I have a son who laughs at my cherries spilling out all over the place.

Much the same in life. My sons laughs. My daughter gives me hugs and kisses and thinks the world is a wonderful little place. Of course, she also thinks the world is just our little log cabin and her dollies and teddy bears and books and blankets. I wish her world would always be so small. I wish all our worlds were.

She doesn’t notice that my cherries are all over the place. They don’t see when things go bad and the phone only carries bad news. When the mailbox is an enemy. When you land on the bird and he carries away your only cherry. When the dog rips you off.

For them, they think life is landing on the good spaces and their bucket is always full.

My spirit is buoyed by their spirits. My bucket is filled by their buckets being filled.

So - to all the kids: May your bucket be full. May you have tasty treats to eat. May you laugh and be silly and ramble on and on and on. Keep the dog and the bird away from your life for as long as you can. And never let the world make you land on the tipped over bucket.