Oh Kids

Well, apparently Mondays aren't so "memorable"...we've completely forgotten to leave you with some memorable words the past two weeks! We'll remember next week. Promise. :)


I'm supposed to be doing homework right now - and I'm trying, I really am - but there are times when I just have to share my thoughts. With the weather getting warmer and the days getting longer, the neighborhood kids have come out of hibernation and are enjoying the open green spaces at the apartment complex where I live. (And let me tell you, there are a lot of kids.) Although it's nice to see them outside, playing, and having fun, as a grad student it's pretty tough to focus on developing a modified balanced scorecard for a nonprofit outcome evaluation with little kids screaming outside. (And yes, it's as boring as it sounds, haha.) But over the past few days as I've heard the kids interacting with each other, I realized how much we have to learn from them.


My favorite example? I was sitting in the living room one afternoon last week, and the little boy downstairs had a friend over and they were sitting outside eating an after school snack. They were talking and laughing and apparently having quite a bit of fun, when suddenly I hear the following conversation:


Kid 1 - (whining/starting to cry)
Kid 2 - It's okay.
Kid 1 - No...
Kid 2 - It's okay means it was an accident.
Kid 1 - You're not mad? I thought you were gonna be mad.
(Some chatter that I can't make out and laughing) 
Kid 1 - Did you see that bug?


I have no idea what had been so upsetting, but the little exchange just touched me. How simple life is for them! As I sat there working through a dense homework assignment, stressing about the end of the semester, worried about financial aid for school, concerned about the job search around the corner, and a whole host of other adult worries, I realized how quickly I forget that life doesn't always have to be so complicated. Not to say we should never stress - I'm a firm believer that a little bit of healthy stress is good to remind us to stay focused and on task - but there's certainly no need to drown in it. 


Yes, life gets complicated as we get older. And yes, there are things to stress about. But I think it's okay to step back a bit and remind ourselves what life looks like through a kid's eyes - and remember that it's okay to take life easy now and again.