Where I see a carpeted floor strewn with pillows, Jack, Charlie, and Tyler see molten lava with just enough boulders to allow us to reach safety. Man, life would suck if I were swallowed by a pit of lava, thank God for boulders, am I right?

My point is that the three boys I babysit are happy kids who love to run around and create new stories and games. That is exactly the way childhood should be. But, why does that have to change once we grow into adulthood? Why does every person I see over the age of 18 (including myself) constantly look stressed, or feel stressed over at least one thing that is out of his or her control? I feel like there has to be some silent vacuum that visits people on their 18th birthday just to suck the fun and creativity out of their ears.

Now, not all adults act this way. There are a few adults that let their inner child come out and play every now and then, but working with the three kids I babysit I have learned that most adults take life way too seriously. Sometimes, major, scary things happen and we have to grow up and deal with them, but for all the other smaller problems that occur, we need to learn to not treat them like the end of the world. Life is constantly balancing itself out, there are always going to be bad times that match the good. But sometimes, a few extra smiles and a grateful attitude can turn those "bad" times into "okay" times or "could have been worse" times.

A lot of the daily issues I complain about are very small compared to the actual problems families are facing across our nation and around the world. I am sure that if we all took a deep breath and really thought about what is important, especially now, we would realize that not all of our problems are too big to solve. Let's get creative, let's be fun, and let's allow our inner child to have some fun. Don't take things too seriously all the time.

I promise, no matter how deep the lava, those kids will always point me in the right direction of safe boulders.