I have been surrounded by children for my entire life. My second home was my grandmother's daycare where there were always children under four years old. If I wasn’t at home or at her house, I was at school, I was babysitting and as I got older, I got jobs as a teacher’s aid, a summer school teacher, a daycare teacher and as an after school care provider. Children were practically coming out of my ears. While children are a challenge and there are moments where your patience is pushed to the limit, they have (unknowingly) taught me an incredible amount of life lessons that I will never forget. Here are a few:

Patience, Patience, Patience.

As an adult, I might know how to handle a social situation or write a linear equation or read a really big book in a few hours, but the child that you’re with is still learning to do those things or hasn’t learned them yet. You learn patience as they struggle through it even when you know that they’ve taken a wrong step. It’s as important for them to learn to struggle and get through challenges as it is for them to succeed and learn these skills.

Simplify.

I’m so used to explaining the nuances of almost every thought I have, but when you’re giving directions or answering a question, that’s not always the best way to go about things. Children have challenged me to say the important things first and follow up as necessary. It’s better to say, “Please go pick up the ball from the four square area” rather than, “Could you go near the out-building and pick up so-and-so’s Avengers ball? I don’t want someone to trip on it or forget about it.”

I volunteer with fifth graders and they have the chance to try all sorts of different things according to their interests. They have the chance to try writing for a class newsletter, becoming a Mathlete, do science experiments, and practice researching topics related to the environment and other parts of the world. It’s refreshing to not be so pigeon-holed and have to stick to one or two things to focus on. It’s good to be interested and there’s nothing wrong with dabbling and trying new things

It’s OK To Play And Have Fun.

Especially as I’ve gotten further into college, sometimes it’s been hard to come up for air after putting hours into an analytical paper. The older we get and the more engrossed in our work we become, the more we need to be reminded that fun is a necessary part of life too. When I go to the after school program where I work in the afternoon, my mind is filled with worries about all the homework I have to do, the emails I have to send, the responsibilities that come with being a senior in college … it’s nice to hear that little voice that asks, “Will you come play basketball with me?” interrupting your stress.

Even though we’re barely adults ourselves, it’s astonishing that we still sometimes need that reminder that adulthood is relative and it’s not all briefcases and tax season (not all the time).