I have worked with children in many different aspects since I was as young as 13 years old. Throughout these six years of getting frustrated and annoyed and angry with these kids, I have also learned so much from them. Here are some very simple lessons that children can teach us.

1. How to love

When I was staying at my family friend’s lake house one year, during dinner my mom accidentally hit me with her fork. I jokingly walked away angry and went and sat on the stairs. However, my friend’s 6-year-old daughter didn’t understand the “joke” part of it. She came and sat down next to me on the stairs, put her arm on my shoulder, looked me right in the eyes and said “You’re still beautiful!”. Kids love without question

2. How to let your imagination take over

We all know that one’s imagination lessens the older that one gets. Having student taught second graders last year, I got to see their imagination in full swing at recess time. Every day, these kids were playing different games with different characters and different names. So many electronics in our day to day lives have taken away this imagination, which caused so many of us happiness as young children.

3. How to focus on the here and now

When something does not go the way that a young child wants, they might scream and pout and cry. However, within the next ten minutes, everything is back to normal, most of the time. Kids don’t take time to think about what would happen if they had gotten an A on the paper, of they had texted something differently, or they hadn’t gone out that one night. Kids don’t care about that. They focus on the now and don’t really have time to worry about the future.

4. How to be happy

Kids are so joyful (for the most part). Sure, they’ll have moments here and there of tantrums and crying, but they normally don’t last long. The simplest things make children happy. Something as simple as being able to play outside, or getting to have a play date with their friend, or their parent coming home from work, can put a huge smile on their faces.

As we get older, happiness is harder to come across, and sadness comes out more easily. If we as teenagers and adults start looking at smaller things, and finding the happiness in that, we will eventually be as happy as the young children that I get the privilege to work with daily.