For example, check this pic out (if you haven't seen it already).
Genius.
All right, let's admit it, most children are little monsters, but at the same time they are really, really clever.
Here's what I learned about kids today.
First off, about their language. I just read an article about how kids tend to make some mistakes when they are trying to learn how to express themselves. I found it really interesting that some people managed to come to the conclusion about how a baby learns his or her words. They experiment a lot, mostly. For example, when they use the word "baby" referring to the family pet, but not their parents they do this because they find something common in themselves and the pets. And what do babies mostly focus on? Eating. Parents feed them - and they feed the pets too. Thus, the pets must be babies also. Later on, they will try the same word for other things too, until they finally manage to understand the meaning of the word.
So what are other things kids are way better at than we are? Well, let's see.
They don't know the meaning of impossible. That's probably why you should keep an eye on them at all times. A 50 year old person swears that lighting a fire with flint happens only in the movies? Hand that shit to the kid, and you'll have a burnt down item in no time. You tell them that not everyone will be a fireman, a doctor or an astronaut - fuck that, they are already stopping fires, healing boo-boos and flying in space. Did you know that Olympic athletes spend about as much time imagining themselves as winners as they train physically? Visualization is apparently something we should think about more.
Another thing... up to about 5 years old they will absolutely not notice anything different in anybody. In their eyes there are no white, African-American or Asian people, they don't care if someone is Jewish or Muslim, or if another friend has two daddies instead of a mom and a dad. Hell, they don't even notice if someone is handicapped in one way or another (this one is kind of interesting, since I read about one or two families that had some members in it with an amputated arm or leg, and the kids only noticed it when they were around the age of five. Of course, the adults scolded them for it - I'm guessing because they were thinking the kid was mean, but it was true enough, the child only then noticed that something was not quite right).
And the funny thing about them is that even though they don't notice these things for quite a while - they somehow still manage to notice quite a few things. Like the other day I was in a hurry somewhere, and a child was probably walking home accompanied by his grandmother. The kid kept babbling about all kinds of things - they were walking close enough for me to hear some of it-, and at one point we all came upon a puddle. Which had a pigeon bathing in it. And the kid spent the next few minutes trying to make his grandmother see it too. I don't know how the whole thing ended in the end because I passed them, but I'm guessing the grandmother gave in when she saw that the kid wouldn't live that place until he had his fill of the spectacle.
Okay, something else... did you guys notice that kids nowadays are being practically smothered with "love"? I seem to notice it everywhere I go, really. And it's not only the fact that they are pampered. Parents seem to keep them really, really close to themselves, afraid for them at every step they take. I'm not really sure why this is, but I remember that when I was a kid, things were kind of different. I guess in those days adults still knew that kids had the ability to judge who can be trusted. Gut feeling, if you must. So if a kid comes home to you and states that someone out there is creepy, you should probably mind his or her words. But this ability will again, soon fade too. It's because kids are told to use their logic more than these "gut feelings". Thus they learn that teachers are really smart adults who should be trusted. And sometimes, just sometimes, good manners won't be enough to get you out of trouble (I wish I had less good manners too sometimes).
kids are mostly fearless too. In fact I had a little discussion about this with one of my friends today... about how things changed since I was a kid. I used to go out there in the winter, put my ass down on a sled and have some god damn good time, even when I was cold and wet and numb, and black and blue all over from all the falls. It was awesome. Now doing something like this doesn't only embarrass me, I'm also just the right amount of afraid of it to try it. I wish I was still a kid who would try out things just to see what it is like, and don't give a fuck about people around me. (Probably the reason why I like watching flashmobs).
So what do you think, guys? Wouldn't it be nice to just play around and do nothing productive without the huge guilt that comes with it?
