Living with someone who is living the same year 40 times faster

I suddenly thought about this.
For a three-year-old child, one year is one-third of their life.
For a forty-year-old adult, one year is one-fortieth of their life.

Even though it is the same year, the weight is completely different.

For an adult, a year passes in the blink of an eye.
But for a child, it is a year that occupies a significantly large part of their life.

Thinking about it that way, even if we live in the same house and sit at the same dining table, we might be living through time at completely different densities.

Children live through time that is much denser than that of adults.

When I think of it that way, a child's casual day starts to look a little different.

An adult's year and a child's year are different

When you become an adult, a year really does pass by quickly.

“Is it August already?”
“Is it the end of the year already?”
“This year went by fast, too.”
I feel like I say the same things every year.

While working, doing housework, keeping track of the children's schedules, and handling daily errands, the seasons change in the blink of an eye.

But for a child, a year is surely completely different.

The first time they could do something.
The first place they went.
The first thing they ate.
The first time they were scared.
The first time they were happy.

All of those things make up a large part of that child's life.

A year at age three is one-third of their life.
Even a year at age five is one-fifth of their life.

Even if it is just an instant from an adult's perspective, I think it is a very significant amount of time for a child.

A child's every day is made up of firsts

When spending time with children, they stop many times at things that adults would just walk past.

A stone on the side of the road.
A hole in a drain.
The shape of a cloud.
The movement of an insect.
A shop sign.
Even though we are walking the same path, the child finds something every time.

For an adult, it is just the way home.
But for a child, it might be a slightly different adventure every day.

Adults let things flow by as familiar sights.
But children are not yet used to the world.

Everything they see, touch, and hear is new and intriguing to them.

That is why they stop.
They crouch down.
They ask the same things over and over.
They look at the same things and are surprised every time.

Perhaps it is not so much that time flows slower for them than for adults, but that they experience each moment more intensely.

Even when at the same dining table, the time we perceive is different.

We are eating the same breakfast.
We are in the same living room.
We are walking the same path.
But I think the time felt by a parent and a child is different.

Adults are thinking about their next plans.

Today's work.
Shopping.
Laundry.
Preparing for tomorrow.
Weekend plans.
In our heads, we are always thinking a little bit ahead.

But children are looking at what is right in front of them.

The shape of the bread.
The bubbles in the milk.
Their favorite clothes.
The sky outside the window.
The continuation of yesterday's play.

Adults live while being pulled toward the future.
Children live by diving deeply into the present.

Even when in the same place, the way we spend time is different.

Thinking about it that way, I feel I can understand the disconnect between parent and child a little better.

Forgetting the weight of a year

For adults, a year might gradually become lighter.

Of course, it is a precious year.

But as the number of years we have experienced increases, the proportion that one year occupies in our lives becomes smaller.

That is why we tend to let it slip by.

Spring has come again.
Summer has come again.
A birthday has come again.
They have grown another year older.

But for a child, each one of those moments is very significant.

This summer.
This birthday.
This sports day.
This Christmas.

Each one of those moments might be becoming the foundation of that child's memories.

Time that adults consider 'routine' can sometimes be a major life event for a child.

Thinking about that, I realized I might have been treating ordinary days a bit too carelessly.

A child's time will eventually draw closer to an adult's time

Surely, children also gradually move closer to adult time.

They start moving by the clock. They start worrying about schedules. They start prioritizing promises with friends. They start making more decisions on their own without asking their parents.

That is growth.

But on the other hand, the time they spend stopping for a stone on the side of the road might decrease.

Being surprised by clouds, crouching down to look at bugs, and happily telling the same story over and over will eventually decrease little by little.

Approaching adult time also means becoming able to move efficiently.

But at the same time, it might also mean that the time spent savoring just this moment will decrease.

Thinking of it that way, a child's time right now is truly special.

Living in the same house, living in different times

Even though we live in the same house, parents and children live in different times.

Adults view today based on their past experiences.

Children view today as a series of firsts.

For an adult, one year is one-fortieth of their life. For a child, one year is one-third or one-fifth of their life.

Thinking about that, a child's day is bigger than we think.

What they saw today. What they were told today. What they laughed about today. What they cried about today. What they ate with you today. I believe each one of those things piles up inside the child.

When raising children, every day passes by in a rush. We cannot always keep up with the world the child is seeing.

Even so, I want to remember this from time to time.

This child is living a much more intense life than I am.

They are living the same year as if they are absorbing it at 40 times the speed.

When you think of it that way, the days with a child are no longer just a repetition.

Perhaps today is a significant part of this child's life.

Just being able to think that way makes me want to cherish the time right in front of me.