Wednesday 19 October 2011
Back in the Day...We Had Fun in a Bun, Let's Have It Eh? x
Hey Blogeroos, Here I Am...Signed, Sealed, Delivered....I'm Yours! Hurrah! Now how are you all? Tippety-Tip-Top-Toptastically-Terrific, is what I'm hoping you'll say.......me too!
I have been out at the coalface today (for when I am not being Batfink/She-Ra/Penelope Pitstop) I am to be found hanging not with Mr Cooper (target audience TV reference) but with some of the most randomly eclectic, funny and quite frankly amazing kids ever in my WonderWoman-like alter ego of 'Teacher of Small People.'
I know I have made mention of this before so sorry for repetition, but whilst hanging with these funkiest of monkeys, it dawned on me: "When exactly do we grow up?" I don't mean the whole marriage, children, responsibility, job, mortgage, parents getting older etc etc. I mean like when do we lose the thrill of challenging ourselves, why don't we do stuff 'just cos it's fun' anymore?
Today I bore witness to the following gems that really made me think: A child finding a worm, and seriously acting like she'd found a feckin big as nugget of gold, another kid risking life and limb on top of high monkey bars trying to touch the clouds, two kids in high heels (one running, v competently I might add...much respect) dressed up to the nines because they were off to a wedding and, of course investigating the countless ways in which a big, fat cardboard box can be fun.
I was really grateful for today, because my enthusiasm for working in education has been waning. I seem to be around the small people all the time and too much of the same thing begins to lose it's sparkle after a while (and that would never do, would it?) Whilst the quest is still firmly on for a new gig of 'skirt lifting proportions', I do think today has made me reflect on the opportunities I afford my own Bodlets and how I am going to work harder to reconnect with my inner kid more. Why worry and overcomplicate life? I know there's always responsibility and duty, but feck it, can we not have a laugh whilst we're at it and sprinkle a bit of challenge and wonderment too?
So, I'm going to ask you to channel your inner five year old and share some ideas of how to have a kid experience......I'm thinking of nicking the Bodlet's scooter and ripping off down the street emitting a rip roaring, resounding 'WOOHOOOOOOOOO Mother Fuckers!' whilst wearing a cape and tiara. Oooh, and I could also locate a massive hill to roll down. What are you going to do?....
Soundtrack: A cracker from (strangely enough...back in the day) It's the Lesser Spotted Ahmad. Not often seen or heard of, but still a treat! xx
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Hey there to you. How right you are, and the older you get the more you realise that how children view the world is incredibly, amazingly, wonderfully fantastic. I'm a convert in "let's not knock the child out of the child". Favourite pastime at work is to watch the wee one's moving from one class to another area. Teachers line them up, and immediately the faces become solemn. So sad, for them a trip from one class to another is a chance for fun, new experiences, checking out the environment, having a scrap, doing an impromptu dance, or veering off and playing on the playground. How do we balance that, of course we don't want them running riot, but who said we have to walk in a snake line without a peep. Anyway, I digress. Off they go, solemn little faces, lovely straight, quiet line. Fantastic teacher, you've done well. But hey ho! As they progress they just can't help themselves. One will turn around and start walking backwards. Another with hop, the next one will skip. A few will jump onto the bench seats and walk along those, jumping from one to another. The rest will check out whoever else is wandering around and yell something to them, until they're told to keep quiet and walk in a straight line!!! I always make a point of waving, smiling or pulling a face at them, anything to break the monotony of those straight lines. Poor babies, first lesson in how to subdue your wonder of life and become just like an adult! Now I know we can't have kids madly running and shouting, but I often wonder if we couldn't capture that enthusiasm and make that straight line trip a little more interesting. Arriving at your destination with a smile makes the day so much better. Yesterday I was at the Warehouse and there was a frazzled mum with three young children. She'd parked the car, and by the time she'd got out, one had climbed up the block wall and was walking along the edge, the other was checking out the wheels on the trolley, and the third was crying cos they were stuck in the car seat. She got quite cross, made the wall walker get down and the wheel checker get up and dragged the youngest out of the car seat. Hey ho kids, it's not done to scope the world or have fun. I really believe that's the message we subconsciously give our kids, and I guess we all do it. I do have a son that doesn't though. He always had a different outlook on life and he's carried it into adulthood. He has a 7 year old, and what a lucky 7 year old he is. No usual photo posts on facebook. The last one was dad with a Nelson Mendela mask, the 7 year old with a battered cowboy hat, drawn on mustache and pretending cigar. A stuffed monkey made up the third person, for no particular reason. The kids down here love him visiting as every moment with their uncle is full of interesting and wonderful things, take too long to tell it all. He should have been a teacher as he has a way of teaching without constraining, and I have yet to see a child that doesn't respond to that. I channel my inner child as often as possible, as no one can laugh and enjoy life like a child. When do we grow up? Well we grow up when we accept that we have to walk in a straight line, not climb walls, not be enthralled by a butterfly or worm. We grow up when we find climbing to the top of a tree to survey the world is boring, that looking under leaves for insects is yucky and pointless. We grow up when we stop acting spontaneously with others and start acting the way we've been taught to act. Actually, we grow up when we've had the joy of life knocked out of us. My advise, be sensible by all means, but try not to grow up into a world that has eclipsed fun and laughter. Laugh on my friend, and never lose that inner child you have...
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