5 lessons we can learn from children:
They give everyone a chance.
I know the whole “never take candy from a stranger” thing, but I am talking about this on a higher level. I mean think about all of the people that you have written off during your lifetime… for just, random reasons. Too fat, too annoying, too stupid, too friendly, because they have a unibrow, because they smell bad. There are just so many different ridiculous reasons that we decide we are not going to pursue a relationship with someone. But the thing is, we get offended when someone writes us off. From now on, try to start giving everyone you meet a chance.
Whether you are good or not, try your hardest.
I remember when I played basketball when I was in elementary school. The competition obviously was not the best; we were in 4th and 5th grade. Let’s be honest, we were lucky if some of the kids would make it up the court while just running! But you know, they tried. And for the most part, it was fun! Everyone tried their best, whether they knew they were going to win or lose. That was not the number one thing on our minds at the time. It was going to play and know we were going to get pizza after! Try new things. (And no I am not saying that winning is not important… winning is totally the most important part, but that is also coming from a girl who is a sore loser ;))
BE YOURSELF
Point blank. Stop pretending to be something that you are not, just to fit in with someone or a group of people. You are better than that; you deserve to do the things that make you happy, whether society approves of them are not.
Dance no matter who is watching.
My little Lindsay Lou has taught me this. That girl is not afraid to do ANYTHING, ANYWHERE. She has the most free spirit I have ever met. You want her to bust a move in front of tons of people? She will, without even questioning it. Sometimes, she will just get lost in her mind and start dancing, in public. She will think she is in her room, alone. Overall, Lindsay doesn't care what others think of her. If Lindsay is happy, that is all that matters. This is probably one of the most beautiful qualities a person can have.
Be honest and straight up.
Don’t beat around the bush. Lindsay will tell her mom straight up when she does not like her make up, and when she loves her outfits (I remember the day this happened, Jens! It was a couple years ago actually.) I remember one time Jensy tried something new with her makeup, she asked Linds what she thought of it, and Linds said she didn’t really like it. She wasn’t rude about it, but she told her exactly what she thought. “White lies” do not exist in the minds of children; don’t let them exist in yours.
The other day when I was babysitting, I did my ritual of writing on Jillian’s dry erase board while she gets ready for bed. I wrote “Merry X-Mas” followed by a little love note for her. Not thinking anything of it, I wrote X-Mas because I didn’t have enough room due to the fact that my handwriting was huge. Jillian came over and read what I wrote and said; “Mommy doesn’t like it when we write X-Mas.” Honestly, at this point. I overthink almost everything in this world, and in my 21 years of life, I have never once questioned why ‘X-Mas’ is a thing. Well, I found out today. Jilly proceeded to tell me that the phrase X-Mas takes Christ out of Christmas.
DING DING DING… it finally makes sense.
X is filler for the word Christ. I never wanted to take Christ out of Christmas, I just honestly had never thought of it like that. Thank you Jillian Elle, for teaching me something new. I can happily say that I have learned many lessons from a 10 year old and an 8 year old. They don’t realize how much they impact my life, but that is the beauty of children. They bring so much happiness and wisdom into this world, and they don’t even realize they do.