Bless the Little Children

A child's innocence about the world around them and how life works is absolutely astounding. It makes me laugh, cry, shake my head and wonder about the glory of childhood, how weightless it all feels, how the world can only be as you perceive it and no other way. What is more astounding is their perfect honesty in how they think and feel. Emotions become so complicated and life experiences begin to take their hold on us; honesty is almost a lost art. Honesty in not only about how we feel but in how we convey those feelings for better or for worse.

One day I was helping my little friend W with his bathroom duties when he was just 3 year old. At this point, little W was not a lover of the toilet and just getting him to sit on it was half the battle. To entertain him and keep him occupied while he fulfilled his dreaded doo-doo duties, I started playing an opposites game, to introduce him to the concept and gauge his understanding. I would say, 'up' and it was his job to tell me the opposite was 'down'. After one or two of these, I said, 'boy' and we proceeded into a conversation about the fact girl is the opposite of boy, and man is the opposite of woman. He was a boy, but would grow up to be a man like daddy. He said, 'No I won't I want to be a woman like mommy'. When I asked him why he would rather be a girl he looked up at me with his wide and innocent blue eyes and said, 'Because I think I would be cuter as a girl'.

My little Miss E is a very curious little creature about the nature of life. At the ripe old age of 6, she is constantly bombarding me with questions about how babies get into mummies bellies, how they get out, how many babies can a mummy have? (Me:As many as they want, E:a hundred?) After one of these conversations, E told me she wanted to have 20 babies. Later the same day, Miss E was oh so very distraught over the saliva of her friend N soaking into her sweater. So distraught, even, she had pulled her arm inside her sweater and held the offending sleeve, disgustedly, in front of her and as far away from her body as she could possibly get it. I told her if she wanted to have 20 babies she had better get used to a little bit of germs. When she asked why, I told her because they were going to drool on her all the time, she was going to have to clean poopy diapers and they might pee on her (especially if they were boys) and the odd time they might throw up on her. Her eyes widened, she wrinkled her perfect little nose in disgust, and said as she walked away, loose sleeve dangling, 'I'm not having any babies anymore'.

When the Natural Disaster was only 4 (he's now 7), and it was only our second week together as a team, the charming young fella excused himself to the bathroom while we were having lunch. I had been forewarned by his parents that he sometimes takes a while to complete his task, as he strips completely naked (socks even!) and 'reads' to pass the time. I gave N some leeway and alone time, and allowed his absence to continue most of the way through lunch. After Baby S was fed and the other children were mostly finished, I went to the bathroom and knocked at the door, inquiring about his progress. I heard, 'Ummm... I am not done yet'. I told him he had 5 more minutes to finish up, and went back to the table. After 5 minutes, I knocked on the door again. This time, the answer was not immediate, and I told him to open the door please. When he opens the door, an overwhelming minty scent slaps me in the face mercilessly, stinging my eyes as it passes by. I peered around his skinny shirtless body, and saw a tube of toothpaste on the floor, contents oozing, a wad of toilet paper stuck to the toilet seat. Why was it stuck to the toilet you ask? Because he had squeezed almost the whole tube out onto the toilet and spread it around the seat as if he were painting a masterpiece. When I looked at him and asked him why he did it, 'He said, I thought I could clean it off and you wouldn't know'.

I love my little friends, every single one of them, and watching them grow and having a hands on part in guiding these important days in their lives is probably the best gift I could have ever been given. I think children, if we value them in the right way, help us to keep perspective on life and what is truly important. I cherish this time I have with them and hope that in the end I have helped them grow and learn as much as they have helped me.