Child's Play

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt in this life, it’s this: never startle a child who’s having flatulence issues.

A hard ask if you’re fond of sneaking up on your kids to spring a surprise cuddle on them, or hiding around the corner to go “Boo!”, or even suddenly tipping them upside down when they’re on your lap, for a laugh.

If they’re having the aforementioned issues, it’s way more a gag than a gag, if you know what I mean.

I’d like to say and I’m happy to report that I have that sort of relationship with my children: a lot of love, and a lot of laughs, most of the time.

Oh I’m not pretending I’ll be their BFF or anything, and believe me, they don’t get away with murder with me (unlike their father who is wrapped firmly around their finger at times). But I like to enjoy my kids while they’re still young enough to enjoy it too. Before they hit puberty and decide how dumb and daggy their ol’ mother is. (And before they become parents themselves and realise how handy you are to have around!)

Other things my children have taught me:

* Even if you start out an hour ahead of time, you will invariably be at least 5 minutes late.

* The newer the cake of soap, the faster it gets squished into the plughole.

* When making choc chip cookies, you need to start out with twice as many ingredients as you need to finish with.

* They will always remember the words to the most inappropriate songs (e.g. ♫ “It’s just you and your hand toni-ight” ♪).

* The clothes/shoes that cost the most will be outgrown faster than anything else.

And:

* No matter how big the bed is, if you let even just one of them into it, you’ll be the one stuck like a postage stamp up one corner!

But perhaps the best thing I have learned from my kids, is how to play.

In between worrying about money matters, working on the big decisions, and making sure you’re being mature, it’s one thing that a lot of us grownups forget- how to get in touch with your inner child.

Now, there’s a big difference between being child-like and childish, and if there were more adults who acted like the former and not the latter, well, the world would be a happier place I’m sure.

And if a few more of us parents found a little more time to play with the kids, we’d all be more confident too. Smiles can do wonders for the soul.

If nothing else, the kids would certainly appreciate it, now and in the future.

But learn a little from my experiences, if you’re going to get down to their level figuratively speaking, just make sure it doesn’t backfire on you, literally!

Jx
©2009