Working with children over the last 29 years in-counting has brought me so much joy and enriched my life beyond anything words could describe. There are so many reasons why I truly love being with children.
I love their ability to laugh and enjoy the silly things.
I love their creativity and imagination. I love their enjoyment in the simple things.
Yet my number one favourite thing about children and being around them is their ability to live fully in the moment and completely enjoy the moment.
Every time I get to share such moments children, it fills me anew with wonder. Children have a such a pure ability to savor the joy of the moment in play, being in the great outdoors, being creative and artistic, moving to music, sharing friendship, enjoying toys, pretend play themes, running, skipping, being with a pet, observing nature, acting out their own version of a story. You name it; they are all in it!
I not only love this wonderful quality in children but I have come to deeply respect it and I have made it one of my own life’s goals to emulate in my own life. As a grown up, there are always things to strategically plan for, anticipate and budget for, multi-task and be a step ahead of, that it is easy to let the joy of the moment slip by without realizing it.
Christ told us in the scriptures that grown ups needed to learn be more child-like to enter the kingdom of heaven and to understand the kingdom of heaven not the other way around (Matthew 18:3-4).
So, of all the many joys and wonders that working with children brings, this sums up my number one. I feel so privillaged each time a child invites me to share in one of their spontaneous and joyful moments of joy with them.