Childlike Fun
"While we try to teach our children all about life, Our children teach us what life is all about."~Angela Schwindt
Today our oldest turns 13. A teenager. I've been remembering all of the fun that he has dragged me through over the years, wishing for one small moment that instead of a shaving, taller than me growing young man emerging from his room in the coming hour would be the three year old who taught me how to have fun.
Mitch was an only child for four years. We did this on purpose because his entrance into our life scared us to death. Not because he was trouble, he wasn't, but because he made us realize just how selfish we were. Kids are funny that way. No matter how much work you want to do, or how busy you feel like you really are, sooner or later they will demand that you join them in play. You can do this begrudgingly, but you may find that you enjoy their sabotage more than you bargained for.
In Alabama, Mitch spent most of his days out in our backyard with the neighbor kid Josh. They would run around with pull ups on pretending to mow the lawn with those bubble making lawn mowers. They had lawn mower races and bubble making races and they laughed all of the time. I have a picture that I love of the two of them standing on the bottom plank of the fence looking out, both in diapers and ballcaps and nothing else, like two old men watching the world go by.
When we moved to Korea, Mitch was my exploring buddy. With the help of friends, we found a department store in downtown Seoul that had 8 sets of escalators on it. At the top was a play area and a snack bar where we could buy ice cream. I'm not sure which part of the store thrilled Mitch more, the ride up the escalators or the ice cream, but I can remember that the anticipation as we entered the glass doors of the store and that the ride to the top was always intoxicating. Mitch would put everything he had into play. When we watched George of the Jungle on video, he would stand on the furniture and be George. To this day, that child , oops.... teenager, can play any character from a movie that he has seen.
In Virginia it was hours at the community pool. In Kansas it was hours outside in our yard, his friends yard or at the playground conveniently placed between our community and the maximum security penitentiary (Always on prime property that government housing....) I remember asking Mitch to get the mail one day, and as we exited the house to get it, he jumped in Tori's Barbie Jeep and drove off. There was no place for permission to be asked before fun could be had in that child's mind.
In Germany the fun was a slip and slide given by a friend and used perfectly on the slope in our backyard. It was the snow hill in winter and the small ramp that would fly Mitch in the air with his sled. Every memory has him smiling a smile so bright that his eyes are almost non existant. That type of enjoyment, that love of life and fun, has always been contagious. Growing up with Mitch has kept me in touch with a part of my own childhood. It is important to laugh and play and relax. Life is a four letter word, and some days this is more true than others. Days filled with play or even hours of play, recharge us for those days when it is hard to find something to laugh about. Play reminds us that there still is promise in tomorrow. Laughter heals hurts inside the body that we may not even know are there. Sometimes, it is the break of a laugh or a smile, fun in some shape or form that reminds us that we aren't supposed to take everything so seriously. In the meantime, blow up a balloon, swing on a swing, laugh at a joke, sing at the top of your lungs, make silly faces, blow bubbles, ride escalators or fly a kite. There will be time to be serious, if there is time today for fun, take it..........
Today our oldest turns 13. A teenager. I've been remembering all of the fun that he has dragged me through over the years, wishing for one small moment that instead of a shaving, taller than me growing young man emerging from his room in the coming hour would be the three year old who taught me how to have fun.
Mitch was an only child for four years. We did this on purpose because his entrance into our life scared us to death. Not because he was trouble, he wasn't, but because he made us realize just how selfish we were. Kids are funny that way. No matter how much work you want to do, or how busy you feel like you really are, sooner or later they will demand that you join them in play. You can do this begrudgingly, but you may find that you enjoy their sabotage more than you bargained for.
In Alabama, Mitch spent most of his days out in our backyard with the neighbor kid Josh. They would run around with pull ups on pretending to mow the lawn with those bubble making lawn mowers. They had lawn mower races and bubble making races and they laughed all of the time. I have a picture that I love of the two of them standing on the bottom plank of the fence looking out, both in diapers and ballcaps and nothing else, like two old men watching the world go by.
When we moved to Korea, Mitch was my exploring buddy. With the help of friends, we found a department store in downtown Seoul that had 8 sets of escalators on it. At the top was a play area and a snack bar where we could buy ice cream. I'm not sure which part of the store thrilled Mitch more, the ride up the escalators or the ice cream, but I can remember that the anticipation as we entered the glass doors of the store and that the ride to the top was always intoxicating. Mitch would put everything he had into play. When we watched George of the Jungle on video, he would stand on the furniture and be George. To this day, that child , oops.... teenager, can play any character from a movie that he has seen.
In Virginia it was hours at the community pool. In Kansas it was hours outside in our yard, his friends yard or at the playground conveniently placed between our community and the maximum security penitentiary (Always on prime property that government housing....) I remember asking Mitch to get the mail one day, and as we exited the house to get it, he jumped in Tori's Barbie Jeep and drove off. There was no place for permission to be asked before fun could be had in that child's mind.
In Germany the fun was a slip and slide given by a friend and used perfectly on the slope in our backyard. It was the snow hill in winter and the small ramp that would fly Mitch in the air with his sled. Every memory has him smiling a smile so bright that his eyes are almost non existant. That type of enjoyment, that love of life and fun, has always been contagious. Growing up with Mitch has kept me in touch with a part of my own childhood. It is important to laugh and play and relax. Life is a four letter word, and some days this is more true than others. Days filled with play or even hours of play, recharge us for those days when it is hard to find something to laugh about. Play reminds us that there still is promise in tomorrow. Laughter heals hurts inside the body that we may not even know are there. Sometimes, it is the break of a laugh or a smile, fun in some shape or form that reminds us that we aren't supposed to take everything so seriously. In the meantime, blow up a balloon, swing on a swing, laugh at a joke, sing at the top of your lungs, make silly faces, blow bubbles, ride escalators or fly a kite. There will be time to be serious, if there is time today for fun, take it..........
Beautifully put! This article is just beautiful...maybe I can relate to this as I have a 13 year old son too who will soon turn 14...How quickly time flies by...
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Dee, thanks so much! I swear it was just yesterday I was rocking him as a baby, and now he is an official teen. You aren't kidding about time! Funny thing is all I can remember are the times we laughed, which makes me want to fill my today's and tomorrow with things that bring on the laughter. I imagine fifty years from now, I hope anyway, that I will only remember those times as well! Let me know how 14 looks when you get there!!!!
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