Children

Written April 3, 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona

They are the ones with the cute little smiles and curls. Their giggles are enough to make you smile too, despite yourself. They make you return to a time that you thought was lost. These little beings are children and they are utterly mystifying.

I’m seriously missing my little cousins (or to be technical, second cousins) right now. I kind of miss the sound of their little voices and feet thumping on the floor.

When I saw them, I was startled at their small frames and their mannerisms. Being a high school student who hangs out at malls and such, I’m not used to seeing small children. I’m especially not used to seeing small children so close up and I’m not used to talking to these small children. So it’s amazing what kind of effect that seeing them for a few days had on me.

First off, I’ve learned how to simplify things. I’ve learned how to dumb down my words better so that I could develop at least somewhat of a repertoire with them (although I really don’t think that either of them cared what sedimentary rocks were, despite how I tried to explain it to them). I’ve also had to learn how to take out the curse words out of my language, which was surprisingly easy to do around them. In a lot of ways, my mind almost became more childish in thinking.

I’ve also been acting a bit more of a child in terms of sharing food and playing (yes, Mom, I bought a skunk puppet so my beaver puppet would have a playmate. No, I don’t regret this). Maybe I’ve always kind of been like this but now I’ve learned how to deal with this now.

I’ve also learned how hard parenting must be. We went on a road trip and my cousins had to be entertained and kept in check. They also could be rather clingy at times, which I imagine would be hard to deal with.

Children have such simple wants and needs. It really struck me. My cousins’ strongest wants varied in the severity of their needs. If there was a toy near by, they wanted it. If they were hungry, they wanted to be fed. If one got something the other didn’t get, they wanted that. It was so much easier to define and sate their wants and needs than it would be for an adult’s.

At one point, my uncle’s camera hit my little cousin’s lip and she cried. I was shocked at how easily she would cry (of course, I’m not putting this against her as a five-year-old). I envied her, almost, for being able to cry that easily.

Also, their simple functioning in general made it a bit hard for me to relate to them. I’m more of a social issues and book kind of girl, both of which they are not into.

While I cannot relate to them, children really do add an interesting perspective to life and to the way I see the world. I appreciated the interaction.