As I stated in an earlier article, I’ve been helping a friend with a musical he’s directing with a cast of about 70 children. Let me be honest with you, I was really unsure that I was going to enjoy working with kids. I’ve never been the person to watch kids, I was always one of the little kids who had to be monitored growing up. So, I didn’t know what to expect. Except craziness. There was a part of me that thought I wasn’t going to like it. But I wasn’t going to give up because of that. I had committed my time and I was going to keep plowing through, even if I wasn’t good at it.
That said, I came in during auditions with an open mind. And I was blown away. Sure it was a crazy, chaotic mess, but I was having the time of my life. From day one, I was sold. Since then, no matter what happens, I come in with a big smile on my face and leave with an even bigger one. These kids are a joy and a pleasure to work with. And on top of that, I’ve learned so much about kids that I never even thought about before. Having been at college for so long, I don’t really see many kids. The youngest age group I would see are the local teens who take classes at the university. So my idea of kids was limited to the fact that they are an adorable and energetic handful. But what I didn’t know going into this was that I was in for quite the lesson. Here’s what I have learned so far:
Kids are smart. Especially these children. Most of them come from rigorous homeschool families, so they know their stuff. There have been so many times when I’ll talk about philosophy or politics and I’ll think I’m totally losing them when one of them will ask me a question that will show not only were they listening, but they understood. Seriously, the questions kids ask you really surprise you. They connect things with such great ease.
Kids learn quick. My job description as Assistant Director in this production has been to teach the kids how to really act. When I gave them acting seminars, I really didn’t think they would catch on to what acting really is. But after only twenty minutes of exercises and games, they seemed to be understanding what I was trying to teach them. When I sat them down afterwards and asked them questions about what they learned, they would take things from the lesson that I didn’t even realize I was teaching.
Kids are imaginative. Do I even have to explain this? I don’t really know what happens when you grow up or even when it happens, but once you do, you forget the imagination. Maybe living in the real world makes you more materialistic and less fanciful, but being a kid is a very magical time. I remember this aspect of being a child. Working with these kids has made me want to go back to that time. I even find myself dreaming big more often.
Kids are funny. The thing about being a really young kid is that you don’t get embarrassed as easily as being an adult. You don’t care as much about what others think about you, and so you express yourself with greater ease than adults who have learned from society to care what others think do. That’s why we find kids funny. They’re not afraid to be themselves and so they can act as crazy as they want. This is what I find most endearing about them. I hope to learn from their example and encourage them not to lose this either.
Kids have widely diverse personalities. This comes from their ability to express themselves. You see how different each person is, and how wonderfully unique each child is. All of them come from different families, different social groups, but they have all come together under one unifying factor: this musical. This has helped me to see the beauty in working together and how the more people, the greater the accomplishment. Each individual adds their own flavor to whatever job they have been given and each one of them has worked so hard thus far, making this feat extremely spectacular. I’m so lucky to be a part of this.
Best of all, kids are talented. We have jugglers, trumpet players, roller skaters, some who can do handstands, we even have a rapper in this play. The best thing about it is that some of these kids aren’t even old enough to have had a lot of practice. Which means that so many of them are naturally gifted in these ways. If they devote time and effort in these areas, they can do amazing things later in life. I’m already astounded by the gifts these kids have and they haven’t even tapped into all of their potential yet. Human beings are truly incredible and I have had the privilege and the joy to serve this wonderful group of talented performers. I can’t wait to see what adventures opening day brings.
I know all of these facts should have been really obvious to me, but you don’t think about these things until you encounter it yourself. I guess my point in this seemingly ramble of an article is that children are human beings. Which means that they are rational and emotional. Many people don’t really understand this until they teach or parent them. The craziest thing I learned about children is the very fact that you can learn from them. I never quite understood that until recently. I think the biggest lesson I can learn from this, though, is the realization that we need to be more like these children.
Jesus said it in the Bible, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matt 18:3-4. We need to remember what it was like to trust like a little child and we will see that all of these things that come easily to children is true about us too. We as human beings are imaginative, smart, quick, funny and diverse. That is what makes us amazing.
