Keeping it Childishly Real

There’s just so much us ‘grown-ups’ can learn from children. Do you know why children are so happy all the time? Do you know why simple things like the sound of a fart make them go into an endless fit of laughter? That’s because they’re the only human-type creatures who are keeping it real. They’re the only ones acknowledging their feelings and behaving exactly as how their feelings dictate they behave.

Don’t understand what I’m saying? Ever seen a kid who felt something up its nose and irrespective of how classy the gathering, the child will put its finger up its nose and pull out the booger. They will stand in front of you in the line in the market place and will proudly announce to their parents that their butt itches while proceeding to scratch their butt. They will ask you embarrassing questions like, ‘Why are you so fat?’ and even worse questions like, ’All the other uncles came here with aunties, why are you here by yourself?’ And it is this level of honesty (combined with their tiny size) that shocks you because, ‘How the hell can this human-type creature ask me something so personal so directly?’

For example, if you gave a kid a task they did not want to do, and even if you incentivize them with treats once the task is done, if the child feels bored, or not inclined to do the task, they will tell you so and go about their business. While we ‘grown-ups’ will choose to do the work given by our superiors at the work place doing stuff we hate to do irrespective of anything. We’ve forgotten how to be childish. We’d rather choose to avoid confronting our emotions and dealing with them as they are. (PS: I’m referring only to raw emotions. ‘Horny’ is not an emotion) If a child feels hungry, it will eat until it is full. If an adult feels hungry, they will first weigh out how much time they can afford to spend on a meal and away from their desk, they will then evaluate how many calories the meal will include, how much more they would have to work out in that horrendously expensive gym, and finally settle on eating cucumbers and sprouts which neither fill you literally or emotionally. Eat well, run more – that’s a perfect child-like logic I understand (except the running part).

And we keep denying all these little things to ourselves as adults simply because some silly other adult feels it is childish. Just the other day, it had rained on campus and my shoes were wet in the rain. When I came on to the floor, the shoes made the squeaking sound that normally babies’ shoes come with. I felt absolutely overjoyed and decided to walk around with my shoes going,’ squeak…squeak… squeak…squeak…’ all the way. This was met with very annoying stares from the grown-ups. I almost felt like I was going to be given a time-out and made to stand in the corner and reflect upon my wrong doings. But bah humbug to you old people… I’m going to walk a little more in the rain, come back in and go squeak…squeak… squeak…squeak… with my shoes. Live with that.