If there's anything working in childcare has taught me, it's this: kids have a lot less to learn than adults think. Lately, I've noticed a few specific areas where kids actually tend to outshine the adults.
1. Making friends.
Honestly, as a kid, all you need is someone's name and favorite color and you'll be best friends forever. Adults can have multiple conversations before deciding whether or not we'd be happy enough being friends with someone. What is that all about? Why can't we be friends with everyone?
2. Asking questions.
Some kids ask so many questions that it's overwhelming. However, inexhaustible curiosity is precious. As adults, our egos too often get in the way of our questions, and we like to pretend we know more than we actually do. Let's take a page out of the kiddo's books.
3. Encouragement (both giving and receiving).
Have you ever watched children encourage each other? Granted, it's not always great, but, in general, there's an honest simplicity to it. Kids can say, "You can do it because you're Batman and I'm Robin" and the other kids will just be like, "Yeah let's do this!" Adults have a hard time because we worry about saying the wrong thing when we encourage others. We also can sometimes have a hard time accepting encouragement as genuine.
4. Art.
OK stay with me here. Sure, a child's art might look like a random mess of scribbles to the untrained eye, but the reality is that they chose those colors, did their best and are very proud of those scribbles. As we get older, we can become overly-critical of everything we do. But hey, your childhood artwork was good enough for your mom to put on the fridge because you did your best. Keep doing your best, and be content with working as hard as you can.
5. Making messes and being okay with it.
To be fair, a lot of adults are pretty chill with messes too. But kids have a way of just letting life run away with their imaginations and not caring what it makes the house look like while the Spirit is moving. They'll clean up later, but right now, the sinking couch-ship needs all of Obi-Wan Kenobi's attention. Children have amazing skill when it comes to living in the moment.
6. Entertaining themselves.
Kids just need a few trees, a few sticks and maybe a bucket and they're suddenly explorers in the Amazon. Adults, well, sometimes we scroll through Facebook while we watch Netflix.
7. Dressing themselves.
Once again, hear me out. I know some kids, left to their own devices, dress themselves in strange ways. But is that necessarily a bad thing? Kids know how to choose clothes that make them feel comfortable, happy and confident. That's a golden skill. Adults have to worry about dressing with just the right level of formality, in the right colors and patterns, etc. It's ridiculous.
8. Apologies and forgiveness.
Young kids haven't learned how to hold grudges. They're relatively innocent, so when they say they're sorry or that they forgive someone, that's the end of the messy situation. If only adult life was the same...
9. Telling the truth.
Kids have a way of being brutally honest in the kindest way possible. They'll ask why you're not married yet. They'll tell you when your hair looks weird. They'll tell you if the food you made tastes funny. They'll tell you if they love you. And it never even crosses their mind that, when they get to be adults, that honesty won't be acceptable all the time. Which leads me to my last point...
10. Loving.
Adults have nothing on little kiddos when it comes to expressing love. Argue with me if you want, but you've never seen unconditional love until you've seen a 1-year-old you've only just met curl up in your arms simply because she loves you. Kids love each other. They love anyone they find, and they have a really difficult time wrapping their heads around the idea that some people don't love each other. Adults have gotten so lost in the complexity of love that we've forgotten that sometimes it's actually so simple: love.
