To Think Like a Child

I wish I could think like a kid again. Years of experience and education have jaded me to the wonder and discovery of childhood. And I miss it. Having the ability to think like a child again would certainly make communicating with my children easier because, for a change, I'd be able to figure out just what the hell is going through their heads that made them believe what they just did was a good idea.

Take, for instance:


Yesterday afternoon I found this stuck to my rocking chair. It is a lime green lego. At first I thought it was just sitting in the crease there, precariously resting. Which would have been a little strange as, even then, one of the kids would have had to set it there. But when I pulled it off, I noticed it was sticky, and that stick was keeping it on the chair, not gravity and luck. Upon still closer inspection, I saw what looked like remnants of gum on the lego. But Gabe hadn't had any gum in awhile. He did, however, still have some stuff left in his Halloween basket (specifically, the stuff that neither Libby nor I have much interest in eating).

"Gabe, is this taffy on your lego?" I asked.

He kind of squished up his face a little bit, giving me my answer.

"Did you stick this lego in your mouth while you were chewing taffy and then stick the lego to the chair?" I further deduced.

"Yes," he openly, and I think proudly, admitted.

"Why?"

"I don't know." I wish that made sense to me.

Earlier still, I opened the refrigerator and found a stick from our yard nestled between two gallons of milk on the top shelf.

"Gabe, why is there a stick in the refrigerator?" I asked.

"Because I wanted a cold stick," he answered plainly enough.

"Huh," I replied back, because what else could I say?

Well, I also told him that all he had to do was leave the stick outside and it would get plenty cold as winter was rapidly approaching, but that doesn't make for a very entertaining narrative.

At least the little stuffed penguin we found in the fridge last week made sense. Penguins SHOULD be kept in the fridge. Sticks, not so much.