I was at an event in which someone had dirt clods on their shoes that left piles of crud all over the floor. As I was wheeling out the vacuum, I saw a parent of one of the kids in the group and made a comment about the array of dried mud.

I said something to the effect of how could anyone be so oblivious to the fact that they were leaving a trail all over the room? (I also assured her that I knew it wasn’t her boys who had left the mess.) Her response? “I would love it if my kids played outside enough to have dirt on their shoes.”

Wow. What is a problem for one person is an aspiration for another. And really, how much of an issue was it for me? It took me a few minutes to sweep the floor. But from her standpoint, it was indicative of a larger lifestyle change that she would like to see in her kids. It is also interesting that I completely missed this wider view, considering how much I advocate for everyone to be outside and active as much as possible.

It’s amazing how one comment can change your perspective on a particular issue, especially when you’re dealing with children. Sometimes kids can say things that are really deep, even if they don’t fully understand what they’ve said. Consider this exchange:

I was talking to a group of preschoolers, and asked if they were ready for fun. I said something to the effect of “Who doesn’t like fun?!” and one particularly insightful student replied, “Bullies.”

He’s absolutely right—bullies don’t have any fun, and they certainly don’t want you to have any fun either, which is why they feel compelled to rain on everyone’s parade all the time. While it is certainly unfortunate that someone so young was well acquainted with the characteristics of bullies, at least he was able to recognize and articulate how bullies act.

Conversely, sometimes the young ones can express observations about you that you may or may not want to hear. Example: One girl asked me, with a tone of disdain, “Why are you wearing that dress?” I chuckled and replied that my Mom asks me that all the time, as she hates this dress. 

The point here is that doing any kind of improv or stand up comedy will serve you well in dealing with youngsters. You will develop the ability to just take whatever they throw at you and roll with it. Getting heckled at an open mic night is remarkably similar to working with preschoolers with their off-the-wall questions. Transferable skills are always an asset, as is the ability to not take yourself too seriously.

Also—here’s another NOW (Nugget Of Wisdom): Say you find yourself at a science night, and you are struggling to put together a prize wheel that only requires three bolts and screws for the entire assembly. If you can’t figure out how to engineer this, then you probably shouldn’t be staffing a table at a science night.

Children have an intellectual curiosity about how things work, and they often lose patience with adults who don’t seem to have that same desire to figure stuff out. Additionally, they frequently want to know why certain rules or conditions exist. Sometimes they are doing the rest of us a favor, as we need those people who are willing to ask difficult questions.

As adults, we might think we are responsible for teaching children. That’s certainly true, but it’s equally important to remember that we also need to learn from them.