Among School Children

It’s amazing how you can grow up and forget childhood-excitement, or the feeling of it.   I was watching a whole lot of small children a while ago and was sad to realise that I’ve lost some of the wonder of being a child.



I was near to a sweet stall and it was amazing to just see the looks on the children’s faces as their gaze fell upon the colourful treasure.   Their eyes glowed and all of a sudden their hands transformed into magnets, attracted to the sweets.   Some would just walk to the stall, grab a sweet and shove it in their mouth before anyone could stop them.   I saw twins, a boy and a girl about two years old.   They both had huge blue eyes and couldn’t resist reaching out to the sweets.   Their mother tried desperately to stop them and the little girl looked at her with those irresistible eyes and smiled as if to say, “How can you resist me?”   All the while the mother was probably worrying about them getting rotten teeth.  



We have forgotten the innocence of childhood and sometimes cannot see just the positive aspects of things.   Another little girl, about five years old, brought a friend to choose some sweets.   While choosing what they wanted, the little girl pointed to some and said, “Those are bubblegum.   But you can’t have them.”   Her friend asked her why and she answered, “Because I’m not allowed to.”  



We sometimes forget how to appreciate and enjoy a moment to the fullest.   When children see their friends it’s as if just seeing them gives them an enormous amount of energy.   They run up to them shouting in excitement and immediately they run off together to play.   Children are able to show their true emotions in a way grownups can’t/won’t.   They don’t worry about other peoples reactions, they act on impulse.



Sometimes I think that we burden children with our worries and fears and in a way we steal their treasured childhood.   Instead of forcing them to rely on their imagination, we just switch on...