Generation Gap? There's No Such Thing

I love the way my kids bring out the kid in me. I get their humor. I get their fascination with simple things. I just get it.

Here are a few moments that illustrate my point:

Moment #1:

Jacob: "Boys have a peanuts and girls have 'ginas".

Me: "Hahaha, boys have a peanuts...that's funny."



Moment #2:

The kids are all in bed and I'm in my room changing into my pajamas. I hear a bedroom door open, and then pitterpatter of feet running down the stairs and across the floor in the kitchen.

I go down to the familyroom to see Jessica on the couch underneath the covers, watching a show on Nickelodeon that we never turned off.

Me: "Jessica, what are you doing down here."

Jessica: "I heard thumping in my room and then my bed started wiggling and then I got out of bed and looked underneath and I saw a monster."

Me: "Ooh, really?!! What did the monster look like?"

Jessica: "It was brown", she says distractedly, as she cranes her neck so that she could watch the show I'm standing in the way of.

I'm a little disappointed that she didn't get more descriptive because I'm always fascinated with what goes through their little brains....and then something strikes me about her story....

Me: "Hahaha, your bed was wiggling...that's funny."



Moment #3

Brendon: "Can you teach me how to blow a bubble?"

Me: "Yeah sure, go get some gum for us."

Brendon goes through the Halloween stash. Jessica and Jacob want in on the action. Here I am priming the gum while my students watch on:



Through all of the chaos and stress and demands that kids have the knack of putting me through each day, it's moments like these when I say to myself, "This is why I had kids". I'd go through the worst of the worst just to be given a chance to laugh at something funny they've said or participate in something they're curious about. Being a parent is pretty cool. Being a parent is a privilege.