Lessons From Kids

I've been working with kids since I was a kid myself. My first childcare opportunity was when I was 8 years old. The little girl's grandmother was just in the room next door but I was watching her. I've done various babysitting/nannying jobs, VBS, and more over the years and have interacted with a lot of different families and kids but there are a few things that stand out to me when it comes to how kids live their lives. I think they are things we adults have lost and could stand to try and regain. I think they would bring us a lot of joy.

There are five things that I've noticed in the lives of kids that I think we lose as we grow up and should work to kindle in ourselves again.

1. Kids genuinely care and are so excited to see you. They want to just be with you. With little kids, your job, house, amount of money... nothing matters to them. They literally love you just as you are and your mere presence brings them joy.
   
2. Kids are delighted by the smallest things. If you haven't experienced a child excitedly showing you a plain ole' boring rock, you're missing out :)  But seriously, children live with a wonder that few adults have in that simple things we take for granted delight them.
   
3. Kids are inquisitive. We've all dealt with the endless questions that toddlers ask but there is something to be said for the curiosity of children. They have an almost endless thirst for knowledge and want to explore and learn all the time.
   
4. Kids are proud of everything they do. From doing a somersault to displaying the drawing they did, kids are proud of their work and accomplishments. They want to show you what they can do, even if they do it very badly, and are excited to share things they've made with you.
   
5. Kids examine the world. This kind of ties into the inquisitive one, but I'm thinking about it in a slightly different way. Kids are always watching. They watch the world around them to see how to interact with it. They take their cues from the adults to know what to do and how to behave.
   

There is a lot we can learn from kids and how they approach their lives and the world.  For me, I want to be excited to see people just for who they are. I want to look at the world with delight and always be trying to learn new things. I want to be proud of what I make and accomplish (while taking care to not become prideful). I want to have my eyes open to see the world around me and be able to spot the delights and opportunities to learn.

I would encourage you to start by observing the kids you come in contact with. Watch what they do, how they interact with their world, and see what you notice about their behavior. Then, take one or two things you notice that you like and try to work on developing that in your own life. Maybe it will be things like I've noted in this post or maybe you notice other traits. A few more that come to mind are trust, expressing their emotions, and empathy. Whatever it is, see how you can implement it into your daily tasks and routines. After a while, when it becomes habit, maybe add another one.

Want to know the neat thing? As you start taking these childlike traits and living them out in a healthy way, you'll be showing the kids who are watching you what these things look like when done well. We all know that kids can express their emotions too much or ask too many questions. But that doesn't mean we should snuff it out of them. Rather, we can set the example of what it looks like to do these things properly.

I'd love to hear what lessons you've learned and observed from kids. Have you tried to implement any in your life?