Parents are always teaching and guiding children through their lives. We can easily fall into the rut of simply seeing the adult as teacher and the child as learner. But what if we were to flip that? What if we adults pause for a moment and realize children actually have quite a lot to teach us too? International best-selling author Bryant McGill says, "Our children can be our greatest teachers if we are humble enough to receive their lessons." Whether we are 5 or 95, we are never too young to learn ... and learning from children can be healthy for us “old” folks!
Get active.
If you watch, you know children are constantly active. Do they walk to the mailbox? Nope. They skip or run. Our toddler runs everywhere, even if it’s just to his room for a clean pair of underwear!
Embrace getting older.
Adults groan and roll their eyes when their birthdays come around. Some say it is just another day. Some pretend it isn’t happening. But children? Children tell everyone, including strangers, about their birthday or when it is coming. Our daughter recently celebrated her sixth birthday and was so excited she got up at 3:00 in the morning to whisper to me that it was her birthday and there were streamers on her door. When is the last time you shared that much excitement over your own birthday?!
Be creative.
“My kids are so good at creating without any kind of agenda. They never seem to think, ‘Is this useful? Is this worth my time? Could I make money from this?’ They just create art because they enjoy creating art,” shares Stephanie, an Overland Park mom of three.
Be present.
Julie Gettings, a licensed clinical social worker at KC Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (KC PCIT), shares how being present is important: “Kids are so much better at living in the present moment. They don’t yet have our adult tendencies to dwell on the past or worry about what will happen in the future—habits that get in the way of really enjoying our lives. Kids have this amazing ability to lose themselves in whatever it is they’re doing—playing, reading, riding a bike—whereas adults are more likely worrying about a laundry list of things that need to be done. As adults we can benefit from paying more attention to what’s happening right now and letting go of our judgments about what we should be doing. Multitasking is great, but not when it gets in the way of enjoying our life and what’s happening right in front of us.”
Learn to say no.
While our children love to exercise their right to say no, I have to admi, this is something adults could use a life lesson in. Many of us find ourselves over scheduled or saying yes to things we really shouldn't do or can't fit on the calendar. Sometimes less is more, so just say no!
Notice and be thankful for the small things.
Susie, a Bucyrus, KS, mom and grandma says, “Children always see the beauty in everything. They can’t walk by a flower without stopping to pick it up and smell it. They can’t help but see a bird fly by and get excited. They see mud and have to jump in it! If there is a pile of leaves, they have to run through it or kick their feet in it. I guess it’s the little things they pick up on that they stop and appreciate, which makes us stop and reevaluate what’s important to us.”
Keep a sense of wonder and curiosity.
“One time when I was outside with my son, he said, 'Mom, look. It’s like the sun is playing peek a boo with the clouds.’ I had never thought of the sun and clouds like that before but wrote it down so I’d remember it,” says Danielle, an Olathe mom of three. “Oftentimes we are so busy looking down and running here and there we forget to look up and remember what God has created and all the beauty there really is in this world, even when it doesn’t feel like it.”
Laugh.
Somewhere in the midst of raising four young children, I feel like I lost my sense of fun and laughter. Laughing bonds people together and can truly be the best medicine. Seek out moments to laugh and have fun with your children. You'll be glad you did.
Love like there is no tomorrow.
“Kids have an unfiltered and genuine love that is so pure. Their love is true. Sometimes as adults, we hide from showing love like this. It can make us feel vulnerable, and feeling vulnerable can be scary. Kids don’t have these same fears; they just love in big ways. There is nothing like the feeling I get when I see my niece and nephew. Their love is genuine, and it’s the best feeling in the world," says Rebecca Chapin, positive behavior support specialist in Olathe.
I often look at my own children, especially our youngest who is 3, and am amazed at how simple things are, how pure joy is found in the ordinary, and the wonderment of life for him. My 6-year-old skips around the house, runs everywhere she goes and has endless amounts of energy and love to give. My 8-year-old can just grab art supplies and create something from nothing. My 9-year-old has the best laugh (and always has since he was itty bitty), especially if he is laughing about something inappropriate. As I am writing this, I am struck with the realization that there is so much in each of them I can learn from and take with me as I tackle each new day.
“You make me feel like the world is much more beautiful, more fun, more interesting and less complicated than I sometimes think. I know that your love is sincere, just like your words, which sometimes don’t make sense, but at the same time make all the sense in the world. You teach me to see everything through different eyes, eyes that are transparent and sincere, that still aren’t contaminated by the conventions and cliches that society suffocates us with. With you, everything is different, new, unexpected, exciting! You live each moment intensely as if it were your last, and that makes me feel renewed and alive.” ~from ExploringYourMind.com
Julie Collett writes from Overland Park, where many of these lessons she is constantly learning from her own four children!