Lessons from Kids

Kids trouble you in the way that they do not listen to what you ordered them to do. This usually is in the context of asking them to behave in a manner that to our definition as adults is acceptable. But then kids are just kids. They live in a world of their own with their own definition of things. I do not have a child just yet but I have got two nieces and two nephews. I can tell you that yes, they can stress you but them being a source of laughter and company (yes!) far outweighs the former.

Out of nowhere, I have been asked questions such as “why do women wear this and men wear this?” or “what is a bridge for?” and they press on and on. You can’t help but chuckle and at the same time, sweat in finding the right answers (at least for the first question). Because as adults, I think we generally just accept the norm as it is without bothering to know why.  So I guess, the lesson here is we just need to probe a little deeper and to ask the reason behind things (which I believe I could really use at work especially during these times).

Not only are the questions hard, but they are asked innocently — no prejudice, no whatever.  The only thing that they want is the answer. Since it is asked innocently, they can throw any question without any hesitation. In my case, when I ask questions, I tend to be too measured (to a fault) because I don’t want to be seen, at best, as someone who is not listening or have not prepared carefully or at worse, being stupid. I assumed too readily which really should not be the case. The takeaway then is to not be overly measured and just take risks.

Kids, whatever they wear, they are not gonna care if they would look awesome. There will be no suggestion that they do or do not look good on them (yes, because they’re kids!). There are, of course, objections at times but only when they are not to wear their favorite shirt or jeans or pair of shoes. The point here is there may be a tendency for us to put too much weight on outward appearance or to care too much about how you are perceived based on what they see alone. What truly matters is that which is not seen.

Those are just a few things that I thought I (or we) could really use as I/we go about living as an adult. But you know what, I/we should not have outgrown those in the first place.