kids

i started working with kids early on, really, while i still was a kid myself (in high school). i believe it was a trip to the zoo that i first chaperoned. it was a hot, smelly, sticky day.

kids are funny. at first they might not trust this new stranger in their midst. they sort of eye you and stay back, and talk about you amongst themselves. then the first bold one or two of them will approach you carefully. if you are careful to maintain a non-threatening posture, soon they will be hugging your knees and asking to hold your hand. after the other kids see that, they will come over you in a throng and climb all over each other and you, saying, “it’s not fair, it’s MY turn,” and “you already GOT to talk to her,” as though you were an attraction at disneyland. and it’s a hot stinky day at the zoo, and you really don’t want to be touched but you’re mobbed by children who want to be as close to you as possible.

that’s pretty much the case with kids in most situations. of course, it helps if you are pretty and well-dressed, with fabulous shoes (which they WILL notice), but those things are by no means necessary, as is made obvious by my own story above.

so when do people lose this wonderful open quality, this nonjudgmental, unprejudiced willingness to LIKE other people?

my theory? it’s a necessary evil, if there really is such a thing. this quality is lost after someone gets hurt or betrayed. it’s either that, or with puberty and preoccupation with coolness.

puberty screws up everything.