Close Encounters with Kids
(1)
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“1.”
“Ah only one!? Older or younger?”
“Younger.”
“Do you love your sister?”
“No.”
Their honesty is refreshing.
(2)
Kids will draw a purple banana or a fire-breathing airplane with 6 wheels. They will color outside the lines. They don’t care about being realistic or not. And rules are there for them to break.
It’s been a long time since I sat down with a pair of crayons and let my imagination run wild on a sheet of paper.
(3)
“Thank you for the lovely meal.”
“Can I have some water, please?”
I realized: You can’t use “Alohamora” to open doors in the real world. But you can use “Please” and “Thank you” to open doors to people’s hearts.
(4)
“Today is fun.”
“Lunch is yummy.”
“I am happy.”
“I will try harder.”
Sometimes, easy and simple words are enough to express ourselves. The older we grow, the more complicated our sentences become.
(5)
Their dreams are big.
“I want to be an astronaut.”
“I want to be an Olympic gold medallist swimmer.”
Their dreams are simple yet meaningful.
“I want to be a good father.”
What’s my dream? Let me show you my tree of dreams. With time, some dreams have ripened and fallen off. New dreams have appeared on new branches. Some dreams are out of reach. There’re also dreams, ready to be picked if only I am brave enough to climb higher.
The thing is, most adults will never give you a straightforward answer to the question, “What’s your dream?”
(6)
Kids are full of curiosity.
They are always asking questions.
I must admit.
It took me some time to realize that asking questions is more important than getting answers.
(7)
When you least expect it, they will surprise you and make you smile.
I asked them to write me a comment about my dream.
Here’s what they wrote:
“We would like to read your book. But please don’t write English book. We don’t read English books.”
That made me happy. It’s the thought that counts. But I do hope they grow to love reading English books later. :D
(8)
They don’t care if you find them cute or not.
They don’t try to be cute.
They’re just being themselves and that’s what makes them effortlessly cute.
(9)
There was a talent show.
I thought the kids are really brave.
They are not afraid to show what they can do and they are not afraid of making mistakes.
(10)
The kids had to perform a play.
I learned something from them.
It doesn’t matter what role you get.
Just play that role with passion and enthusiasm.
One kid in my group taught me this:
If you have to be the monkey, be the best monkey there is!
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“1.”
“Ah only one!? Older or younger?”
“Younger.”
“Do you love your sister?”
“No.”
Their honesty is refreshing.
(2)
Kids will draw a purple banana or a fire-breathing airplane with 6 wheels. They will color outside the lines. They don’t care about being realistic or not. And rules are there for them to break.
It’s been a long time since I sat down with a pair of crayons and let my imagination run wild on a sheet of paper.
(3)
“Thank you for the lovely meal.”
“Can I have some water, please?”
I realized: You can’t use “Alohamora” to open doors in the real world. But you can use “Please” and “Thank you” to open doors to people’s hearts.
(4)
“Today is fun.”
“Lunch is yummy.”
“I am happy.”
“I will try harder.”
Sometimes, easy and simple words are enough to express ourselves. The older we grow, the more complicated our sentences become.
(5)
Their dreams are big.
“I want to be an astronaut.”
“I want to be an Olympic gold medallist swimmer.”
Their dreams are simple yet meaningful.
“I want to be a good father.”
What’s my dream? Let me show you my tree of dreams. With time, some dreams have ripened and fallen off. New dreams have appeared on new branches. Some dreams are out of reach. There’re also dreams, ready to be picked if only I am brave enough to climb higher.
The thing is, most adults will never give you a straightforward answer to the question, “What’s your dream?”
(6)
Kids are full of curiosity.
They are always asking questions.
I must admit.
It took me some time to realize that asking questions is more important than getting answers.
(7)
When you least expect it, they will surprise you and make you smile.
I asked them to write me a comment about my dream.
Here’s what they wrote:
“We would like to read your book. But please don’t write English book. We don’t read English books.”
That made me happy. It’s the thought that counts. But I do hope they grow to love reading English books later. :D
(8)
They don’t care if you find them cute or not.
They don’t try to be cute.
They’re just being themselves and that’s what makes them effortlessly cute.
(9)
There was a talent show.
I thought the kids are really brave.
They are not afraid to show what they can do and they are not afraid of making mistakes.
(10)
The kids had to perform a play.
I learned something from them.
It doesn’t matter what role you get.
Just play that role with passion and enthusiasm.
One kid in my group taught me this:
If you have to be the monkey, be the best monkey there is!
Comments
Post a Comment