never forget what it's like to be a kid

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As a child everything seemed magical. Playing in the backyard with the neighborhood kids until it got dark; parents yelling from the porch for their children. The sound of sprinklers as you ran through the neighborhood, barefoot, and happy to play outside. Everything just felt like it was easy to understand. Life was about being happy. Amazing i tell you.

I remember oh, so well my teenage years and the trials and tribulations that came with it! I actively used this during my parenting years. So many ‘adults’ try to demand what the kids will and will not do, and that is absurd! Kids do what they want, as long as they can do it and stay alive. It is the way nature intended it! How else do we get them to leave at 18?

I knew my boy would do those things Moms never will believe, so my philosophy was to tell them why they shouldn’t do those things, and then tell them how to stay alive if they do it anyway! The best example was not to tell my kids that police were their friends – the fact is the police as a job are not your friends, they enforce the law. If you don’t break the law, you are not their friends, you just don’t gt beat up when you smart off to them. SO I said that if they disagree with the police, respectfully explain your stand, but don’t raise your voice to them. They have the adrenaline rush going on, and would love to release that energy at your expense! Say yes sir and no sir, then argue with the judge. The judge respects those who do not get the police mad, and it works wonders in court!

SO… why this example? I got as call at 2:30 am one weekend, and my son was at a friends house spending the night. Evidently he and too many others to fit inside the ca went a few blocks when the police pulled them over. Yes, too many people the vehicle. I received a call to go pick him up a few blocks away, while many went to jail for their mouths. Evidently, my son was in the trunk. I pulled the officer over and asked him how my son’s demeanor was, and he said he was one of the politest kids he met in a while, and that is why I could take him without a booking!

So try to remember back to when you were a kid when your kid acts up! Let them know why they shouldn’t do it, but also let them know how to survive and thy will love you later! Yes, they will all hate you if you do your job right! *(No matter what they say to your face!( But come 22 to 25, they love you again and appreciate you more! (And remember you do have to spank them!) Richard DePriest in Albuquerque 8811528

I was about to say “I’ve done this” but I don’t think it’s anything you really do (or should) stop doing. It’s a neverending goal.

There are so many things I’ve carried with me from my childhood, love of dandelions, slides and make-believe not excluded. There’s a wonder that children have in approaching all things… although I take some of my jaded “grownupness” with me, I still try to view things this way. I still try to smile and jump and skip and sing (even though I’m awful). Because that’s what it means to be a kid.

I think this goal is just to keep doing it. Never stop. The older I get and the more overwhelming and complicated life seems to become, the harder it’s going to be. I just have to keep pushing.

That’s the most important part.

I saw a mom dragging her kid through the mall on a leash today. I may have had a depressing childhood, but I think being on a leash tops some forms of physical abuse. It’s the epitome of parental laziness, and I don’t care how old you are, it’s still embarrassing and indicative of a “master-subject” relationship.

The look of absolute pain on this child’s face was enough to sear into my mind forever. Yeah, I know, I don’t have kids and don’t know how hard it is, but c’mon, it’s a LEASH.

“Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it is to be young…”

Albus Dumbledore
Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 37, Page 826

Everyday I just need to marvel at how awesome young kids are. Other than the typical kid greed, they’re remarkably uncorrupted, most enjoy grasping for any shred of new information that they can get their sticky hands on, they haven’t learned discrimination yet; for them, life is a remarkable new adventure.

While we can’t stay kids forever, there are so many lessons we can learn from children. I think there’s a better way to put it than that trite “Everything I Learned … in Kindergarten” crap. There’s so much to learn after childhood, but the key is to attempt to hold on to how we looked at the world before we all became imbued with jealousy, prejudice, and an understanding that the world wasn’t a wonderful place full of juice, cookies, and plastic toys.

Don’t forget.

Remember when the adults ruled over you, underestimated your intelligence, and talked as though you weren’t even in the room? When the arbitrary rules just seemed so unfair and the preferential treatment was unbearable and you had to wear shoes that were too tight and nobody believed you that they were tight until your toe poked through your white tights? When people skirted around certain topics and wouldn’t give you a straight answer and you got in trouble for things that you didn’t even know were wrong to do?

Well, I do. And I want to make sure that even though I’m an adult now and I will start to forget exactly what is like to be a kid, I treat them as intelligent human beings, answer their questions as best I can, and treat children with respect. While most kids don’t have to worry about things that adults do, it is incredibly frustrating to be a kid and not be completely in control of your own destiny, and I want to remember a little bit how that feels.