Lately I've been on this kick about how childhood is just so dang awesome.I keep looking at my piano students and think: you've got it made dude.You have like zero responsibilities. Go to school, come home, relax, play video games, play with your friends, go to dance and be with more of your friends, practice piano (oh no, that's probably a hard thing for most of my students haha). I dunno, just seems super awesome if you ask me. So, this morning my piano student asked me during their 6:30am lesson-- "you were a kid once? No way! What did you do when you were a kid?" Then, I had to think... What DID I learn from being a kid that transported into who I am today?
1) Remember nap time? I do. Not just talking pre-school, where mom sent you to go eat cookies and takes naps and kick it with the neighborhood kids. Everyday after running track I would come home and take an hour nap from 3-4. It was so awesome. I slept in the guest bedroom upstairs right by the tredmill. When I got done with my nap, I would get up and run for another 30 minutes while switching back and forth from the computer room and do my homework. I would literally run from one room to the other. Maybe annoying little brother in the process by kicking him off the computer 40 gazillion times? :) Gooooood Times. Naps are essential.
2)My Grandma lived 45 minutes away. Packing 4 kids into our "Shark Attack" Mini Van and 3 of them being boys... you better believe that I was always squished in the back seat with my little brother. Kaydon and Jentry always had to be close enough to the stereo to plug in their super sweet "discman" so they could listen to their "U2" and "Weezer" aka "EFY CD Soundtracks." All I have to say is THANK YOU RAFI and Stories on Tape.You are still in my life today. It's about the only thing that made those car rides bareable. Not to mention the fact it was ALWAYS so much fun pretending you were asleep so that you would get carried into the house (every kid does that!). So. Lesson learned: books on tape are a must-have for long car rides. Pretending to be asleep means you get carried into the house.... that's a work in progress. Haha!
3)Kids love attention, am I right or am I right? The way to get it was have the coolest latest newest BAND-AID with elmo or a disney princess on your knee, just so the neighbor friend next door will ask.... "Oh no!! What Happened!" Then you get to tell the coolest craziest story that your little (or should I say big) imagination can come up with- and it's always different! The worst part about it was trying to remove the bandaid without it hurting! (Never happened.) Wearing bandaids is just the cool thing to do. Just because we are adults, doesn't mean we don't love attention- just doesn't come in the form of neon colored bandaids. It could be clothes, hott accessories, a nice car... Not saying we need this, but all in all, we all want to feel validated and cool. The trick is learning how to just accept the normal nude bandaids are super cool too.
4)Night Games.Enough Said.I remember our street had an awesome collection of kids that we loved and had the best set up for night games. The Forsgren's had this HUGE yard that was perfect for kick the can, but not to mention the entire yard was elevated by rocks. Those were the days. Not to mention who wouldn't LOVE the excuse to stay out late to play games with friends-- in the dark?! Mom and dad love it too, so they can snuggle and watch a movie in peace and quiet. There are ways into tricking your parents to staying out late, I promise.Life lesson: Find the benefits for both side of the party and use them to your advantage. Don't abuse it!
4)Bedtime Stories. Definitely coming out of my comfort zone on this one, but I don't really care! My brother Dallin and I... we got pretty awesome at this. We had our cool stuffed animals and they had their "clan": most of them existed of Bears. We had this Beaver and his name was Bucky. My mom probably sewed him up at least a dozen times because we used him CONSTANTLY. So, we had Bucky the Beaver stories at night. We made this series, and even used my brother's kinex with huge roller coasters. I still have some of the stories written down. Pretty legit stuff. Imaginations are the best in kids. We laughed hysterically for like 30 minutes, sometimes my mom would be shoo-ing us back into our rooms because we would sneak back in and start it up all over again! It brought us closer together.Laughing, story time, spending time without the electronics... that's what matters most in life. Put your phone, tv and crap away. Don't care how cheesy it is, or if there is a beaver named Bucky, those memories live in my heart forever.
5)"Everybody OUTSIDE!" Yes, Mom would kick us out of the house all the time. We would go on adventures, hide in other peoples backyards (the neighbors must have gone nuts about this!), go in the mountains that were only a few blocks away and explore. Honestly, get dirt in your toes and run in the wind. My favorite was exploring the wooded areas by farmington pond. We would escape for hours-forget about all the troubles in the world. I think we should all be grounded to outside or the great outdoors in our life. Because I think as adults we think up too many dang excuses to not go outside. "My house needs to be cleaned, I need to do laundry, I need to cook...and read, and.... stuuuuuuuuuffff" .... stuff that will be there I promise you when you get back!
6)Recess- When I was in elementary I was in the MAC program. 4-6th Graders, as an advanced paced class in one large room. Our teacher, Mrs. Baldwin and Ms. Hill were stellar awesome. If we worked super hard, they would let us have "extra recess." OUR recess we all played soccer.As a 4th grader, you just hoped you didn't get run over by all the 6th graders, but eventually you worked your way up. When I was in 6th grade, for some reason, there was a dominance of 4th grade boys that were all super athletic. Then, we got into kickball. Honestly, our teachers just let us play half the day sometimes if we worked super hard and got our stuff done. We worked hard, we played hard, we breathed hard. It was just fun. Life lesson: You can have fun while breathing hard, and while working hard at life too. Life is no fun being a couch potato. Not to mention, it helps with the girlish figure. :)
7)Life Is Short- Kids teach us the best of who we can be. If you think about it, kids are only really kids for 14 years. And then they get into the tweens.... and wanna be all grown up all at once.Enjoy the moments. Laugh, love, cherish. Yadayadayada. You know the drill. But, really. I love having kids apart of my life-it keeps things simple. Sometimes, it feels like I'm there being a kid too. but instead I get to be an example to them and to teach and help them grow and shape their lives in all these different ways. God wasn't playin when he said the people that teach us most in life is the children. Life is Short. Appreciate the moments you have. Put the crap aside from the world. Have fun. Live your life. Trials and tribulations-- they are just events in your life that shape who you are. Love unconditionally and I promise you're life will never be dull.
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