Through the eyes of children

Today was a scorcher, and as such, I took my work to Starbucks this afternoon for the air conditioning and the promise of free refills of green tea. I sat toward the back, at a long table near an outlet, facing the windows that look out over the small patch of grass between the coffeehouse and a main stretch of road. At one point in the evening, when the sun was low enough to cast a shadow over the lawn, I saw a young girl and her mother sitting on the grass with their drinks. The mother sat in quiet conversation with her friend, but the girl didn't look like she wanted to sit down. She had things to do.

By the looks of her, I'd say she was around 6 or 7 years old, dressed in a hot pink tank and shorts. She stood at the top of this little mound of grass, intermittently sipping her drink and holding out her other hand in front of her, facing the road. To me, it looked like she was pretending to control the cars, or direct traffic. Later on she planted one hand on her hip, held her other out toward the road, and occasionally pointed in the direction the cars were driving, as if to say, "Yes, it's safe to go now, move right along."

I am 26 now. I would look very silly if I were to do what she was doing. I have two decades of life experience on this girl. I am very aware of the horrible things happening across the world, and in our own country. I struggle with doubts and worries and fears. Sometimes, and I think we all have moments like this, I wish for the simplicity of seeing the world through the eyes of a child. 

The funny thing about life is there's no going back to that, once you've grown up. But this little traffic director girl got me thinking, so here I am.

Ever since I was little, I knew I wanted to have kids one day. There are many reasons why, but she reminded me of one of them...

You can never go back to being a child, but you can remember what it was like and experience it with your own (or other people's) children. I'm not talking about living vicariously through your kids, or imposing things on them you missed out on, regardless of whether they actually have interest in the activity. I'm talking about being amazed when they learn how to do something new, or running away from scary dinosaurs and rescuing their friends while you drive on your couch in your firetruck. I'm not a mom yet, and I know things will be exhausting during that season of life, and those little moments won't be so easy to notice or appreciate. I just hope that I will remember to take note of them when I see them, to live with my kids in those moments. Even from watching my friends' kids, I know how quickly they grow up. They learn new things and don't always need you to swoop in to help them anymore. There's a time and place for that, but there is also a time and place for just sitting back, watching them use their imagination, and marveling at their creativity and honesty.

If that sounds lofty and idealized, oh well. Maybe you should go lay in the grass and try to find shapes in the clouds for a while. Better yet, bring a kid with you and look together. You might be surprised at what you find.