When Adults Act Like Children...

Sometimes its a good thing when adults act like children. Take this summer for instance. At Porter's birthday party, when the boys (many of whom are my cub scouts) drenched me with their water guns, I gunned them right back. Instead of getting all stodgy about being a grown up getting wet, I got wet with them. This is a good time for a grown up to act like a child.

When Brynley pulls out her camera, John and I do our best to look silly in her pictures. Unless she wants us to look less silly (which is hard for us to pull off). This is how our teenager wants us to have fun with her; so this is a good time for an adult to act like a kid

And when our new nephew comes for a visit, John and I make baby sounds and stick our tongues out at this little bundle of YUM. We look like infants ourselves, but its o.k.-because this too is a good time for an adult to act like a child...

and the week before school started, when we had night games in the driveway and our next door neighbor came over and played 'red light green light' with her kids (and mine) now that was a wicked perfect time for an adult to act like a kid!
(I literally had forgotten that I was allowed to play, thanks so much Megan, for reminding me that I can have fun with my kids too)

But, yesterday, when the immature parent at our elementary school butted in line to talk to the new principal, and didn't really talk but 'yelled' at her because he wasn't getting his way, and bullied her and tried to use his adult-ness to childishly manipulate her into doing what he wanted, this was NOT the right time (or way) for an adult to act like a child...

I was embarrassed for this whining adult as he ranted in public to another adult while children and even more adults cringed in their observation of his performance. He was throwing down words like "constituency" and "influence in the community" but the only influence he had was the lesson that if you are a childish adult in the wrong way at the wrong time you can look like a giant fool...so much of this kind of behavior has gone on in our public politics, both in the town where I live and in our country at large. We shouldn't be too surprised when the children who observe this turn out to be childish adults-its the pattern we are setting for them in the very worst sense.

Here's to being child like when it comes to being with a child. Here's to playing with our kids and teaching them through play that we value them and the world of play that they live in and learn from daily.

And here's to being an adult when its important to be one. To communicating disagreements in respectful conversation. For finding common ground and working hard to understand another adult's point of view. And to showing that even though you might be absolutely right; manipulating or bullying another is not the mature way to 'get your way'. Let's show our kids that its great to be a kid, and lets show our kids how to be good adults, so some day they will know how, and someday be able to be one.