Kids Teach

This past Labor Day weekend, I had the pleasure of joining three other families and a nearly-newlywed couple.  We had a great time full of laughter, games, spoons, cards, singing on hikes, fishing, exploring, watercolor painting, doodling, s'mores in the rain, cops and robbers, bedtime stories, scary tales of the BIFFY monster just before trekking the fifteen feet in pure darkness, stars, drizzle, thunder claps as loud as a cannon, and special early morning visit from a doe.  One of my favorite moments came just after the children were band from playing cops and robbers due to stealing the toilet paper from the BIFFY ad using them as bombs and locking one of the littler guys in the wood shed with the axes.  Instructed they needed to do some quiet play, they found came inside and taught each other new card games. Then they went outside and built a fort together under the twelve year old's guidance.  It was wonderful to see seven kids ages four to twelve work together.  Later, one of the smaller ones came in and asked if they were all cousins.  That made me feel so happy.  I also love the fact that both my kids noted the others had little imagination in their play.  They made it their mission to teach them what they know.  By the second day, the youngest girl accepted my winged purple elephant as her guide and joined my daughter in making a fairy home down by the stream complete with mud balls, tarins (stacked rocks) and leaf alters.  I noted a lot  of awesomeness watching these kids running around.  Here is few things that stick out in my mind.

Kids like being with other kids.

Kids fight.  Life is a completion for attention and siblings are the worse enemies.  

Kids don't like being told what to do.  

Kids like being asked to do something when you get down to their level and look them in the eye.

Kids love to help.  They just need to know they are part of a community and everyone else's is helping. 

Kids only think it is fair when everyone is doing it, including the adults.

Kids don't like being different.

Kids like being different.

Kids love it when they are in time out and everyone else's is still playing....not.

Kids don't like being in trouble when one person is at fault and the whole group gets the punishment.

Kids accept the punishment with less resistance, negotiating, and bitterness when everyone else is punished exactly the same.

Kids are weak, they cry.

Kids are strong, they cry

Kids are brave when you show them compassion for their struggles even when it seems minor to an adult.

Kids know a tiny little splinter or cut really, really, really, hurts.

Kids know the cream you put on that cut really hurts.

Kids know who to trust to make them feel better.

Kids actually do know you know best even if they try to prove otherwise

Kids push your buttons and long for you to pull them back.

Kids know it is tough what you are going through and when to give you a hug.

Kids love to know what you are going through so they can give you a hug.

Kids are the best huggers.

Kids are smarter then most adults think.  Sometimes they just need a little time and guidance to sort it all out.

Kids love challenges.

Kids thrive when you tell they you noticed just about anything they have done, said, or thought.

Kids criticize.

Kids can be taught to critique constructively.

Kids know it takes time and adults are always slow, too slow.

Kids do know how to wait if you tell them your objective of your task at hand.

kids can learn social manners.  

Kids are hilarious.

Kids pick their noses and pee on themselves.

Kids don't like to stay tidy when there is fun going on.

kids love when tidying up is a game.

Kids get bruises, scraps, and cuts and it is always someone else's fault they got them...so they think.

Kids know it is never their fault until an adult tells them it is.  Even then it is questionable.

Kids are selfish as it should be.  It is a survival skill.

Kids are fragile and they are tough.

Kids have a lot to learn and much to teach.

Kids can show you how to take pause to notice to fungi on the tree, the caterpillar on the bench, and the mushroom that looks like a Smurf house.

Kids want you involved in their world and pull you to the Earth when your head is in the cloud of business.

Kids seek knowledge and to understand.

Kids talk a lot and want you to hear them, not just listen.

Kids want to be talked to, sang to, read to, and given head rubs.

Kids accept.

Kids forgive.

Kids are amazing.

Tonight, watch your kids, or borrow someone's kids for a bit.  Listen, observe and slow down.  There is much you have forgotten.  Make a list.  Find acceptance and teach acceptance.  Give and receive to these amazing beings.  Someday, they will be the adults, and this is their training session.  Let's make lots of mistakes together while the stakes are low.  Time is running faster then you can imagine.  Right now is the right time, you are in the right place, and you are with the right people.  So be it with love and acceptance.  Namasta.