I think kids are incredible - don't you? I love their energy, innocence and their where-in-the-world-did-you-come-up-with-that ideas. Toss in their laughter, imagination and transparency to be just who they are, and you've got one incredible person who will one day do very incredible things.
A couple of weeks ago I flew a few states over to visit two incredible kids: My “grandgirls.” The youngest is six months and cute as a button. The oldest is a 3-year-old. She's cute as a button, too. She doesn't call me Grandma; she calls me My Friend.
"I'm going to play soccer with My Friend. Then I'm going to make a pink cake with purple frosting with My Friend,” she bragged to her parents. I think she's incredibly charming - don't you? We ventured to a nearby park. We swung double-Dutch to the moon and touched the sky with our feet.
“Go higher!” she shouted. I loved her contagious belly laugh.
I think kids have an incredible zest for fun.
Then a little boy unabashedly approached her. “Do you wanna play?”So they did.
I think kids are incredible at making friends.
When we finally left the park I carried her piggy-back. She wiggled and tried to hold her stuffed Captain Uniqua with her left hand while barely grasping my neck with her right.
“Don't lean back, I might drop you,” I warned.
“Like this?”
She leaned back.
“Yes - like that!”
We laughed.
I think kids are incredibly unafraid.
In the evening her parents left for a date night.
“Me and My Friend are having a sleepover!” she informed them. We also read a pile of books. You've been around kids, so you know how it works; we read each one. Again.
I think kids are incredibly smart at stretching their bedtimes.
When it was time to kiss my grandgirls goodbye at the airport, I gently rubbed their cheeks once more before closing the car door. Bet you've done something like that, too.
Then it occurred to me on the flight home: Kids can give us a new take on life - if we let them. They give us their energy, innocence and their where-in-the-world-did-you-come-up-with-that ideas. They toss in their laughter, imagination and transparency to be just who they are. And one day, they will do very incredible things.I think kids are incredible - don't you?
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Note: Send me a brief comment on how a child has given you a new take on life and it might be featured in a future column.
Judy Halone (
judy@judyhalone.com) is a member of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association and the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. Copyright (c) 2007 by Judy Halone.
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