Avery is about four years old. She comes into my clinic with her mom.

One of Avery’s favourite things to do is find one of my office stamps - the kind that stamps my clinic address on cards and magazines and envelopes - and stamp it all over herself. She stamps it on her hands and arms and clothes and neck and face.

I’m a bit flabbergasted, watching this. I love her singlemindedness in covering every bit of bare skin. I love watching her mom smile while this goes on, knowing she’ll be ridiculously busy washing it all off tonight. I love the permissiveness of it, remembering how strictly I was raised, and how there’s no way this would have happened when I was a kid.

I get a kind of vicarious thrill from it all.

And it makes me wonder this: if I could design my own stamp, and stamp it on my forehead, what would it say? It wouldn’t be my clinic address, that’s for sure. I can think of a few things.

I am not as uptight as I look today.

I am kinder at heart than I am out loud.

I make heaps of mistakes, but I mean well.

I love it when you make me laugh.

I’ll love you forever if you help me see all of this in a better light.

You are beautiful. I’ll do my best to see this even when you don’t.

I wish you could know my kids.

I want to do a lot more with my life.

Love wins every time.

I’d need a big forehead for all of that, but there you go.

What about your stamp? What would it say?

Thanks to Avery and to you for the conversation,

kristin

Tags: childhood, conversation, humor, kristin shepherd, life humor