If you’ve read some of my past articles, you know that I am a camp counselor in the summer for four year olds. Additionally, I work at the JCC when I’m home from school in the pre-school / day care, so I’m pretty much only with children under the age of six. You listen to them cry about insignificant things, like someone taking their crayon, or hysterically laughing when you make faces at them. I don’t know about you, but when I’m with these kids, I miss being little. Life was so much easier. You may not realize it, but just as much as you are teaching these little kids, they are subtly teaching you things as well.
Enjoy The Little Things
If there is only one thing you take away from this article, I hope it’s this. I’m a strong believer in enjoying the little things in life. I am fortunate enough to be able to sit and play with Lego’s or color or build a tower for hours on end. Bright colored things make me happy, and I can be amused by the littlest things sometimes. Little kids have the amazing ability to be amazed at the tiniest of things, such as sparkly crayons, seeing pictures of themselves, and making funny faces. They can spend hours picking flowers on a playground, completely oblivious to the fact that there’s a jungle gym right there.
It’s ok to cry.
Kids cry all the damn time. They cry at pointless things, like the fact that someone started singing a song with them or someone else has the same favorite Superhero as them. Maybe they're crying because Mary isn't their best friend anymore (but you know they'll be best friends again in ten minutes) Or, they cry about something 'important', like walking into a wall or being woken up from a nap. Whatever the case, kids teach us that it’s ok to cry sometimes.
Sometimes all you need is a hug.
On the other hand, sometimes you’re just having a bad day, and you feel like nothing’s going right, or you’re not feeling well or you feel like the whole world is against you. In that case, sometimes all you need is a hug from someone who cares about you to make you feel better.
Being excited to see someone in the morning never gets old.
Walking into room 11 and being greeted by instant hugs and “Miss Nicole!’s” never gets old. The number one thing I’m going to miss this year is walking into a room and not being greeted by an attack hug of multiple kids at once. The joy you get from that never leaves. The idea that someone so tiny can be so excited to see you every single day is amazing.
Being woken up isn’t fun.
It doesn’t matter how old you are, being woken up isn't fun. We had some kids who cried after waking up, every single day. We had some kids that it was practically impossible for us to wake him up and we had kids who would attach onto you like a spider monkey after waking them up. Whether you’re four, fourteen, or forty, waking up isn’t fun when someone does it to you.
It’s the little accomplishments that mean the most.
Whether it’s finally writing your name on your own, or getting an A on a paper you worked really hard on, it means a lot. When a four year old runs up to you all happy because they put their socks and shoes on all by themselves, you can’t help but smile at them and say “good job!” or give them a high five, even if their shoes are on the wrong feet. To an adult, it might not seem like much, but to a little kid, putting their shoes on by themselves may be a huge accomplishment for them.
