Childish and Child-like
This summer, I spend a lot of time around children. I am a full-time nanny to two little boys, and the assistant nursery leader. We're commanded to be like unto a child. But surely we don't want to be immature and childish. That's where we must draw a distinction. There is very much so a difference between being childish and being child-like--there is definitely a line. And, all modesty aside, sometimes, I feel like I walk it like a pro.
I am an interesting kind of girl. I know that I am. I know that I always have
been. And I don’t really fight it. Part
of the interesting thing about me is that I feel like I have managed to mature
while retaining child-like qualities. If
you look around my room at college, you can see that I have stuffed animals, matchbox cars
that look like characters from the Cars movie. Altogether, if you had to choose a theme to
describe my room, it would probably be the Cars movie. I have a Lightning McQueen bedspread, and a
Route 66 roadsign above my bed. I have puzzles and Play-Do. In fact, my father just gave me a computer mouse that is a Lightning McQueen. He's basically awesome--my dad and Lightning McQueen. I carry bubbles in my backpack, and in between classes I'll sometimes be on the grass, blowing bubbles. And yet, I have always felt like I have more
somber maturity than my peers, throughout my life.
I also feel
like I have child-like curiosity. This
is something that I have even fought to keep.
When I start to feel myself losing it, I intensely think about how I can
keep this going. I firmly believe that future of all technology is contained in
the curiosity of children. This will be
the way that we cure cancer, and the way that we discover the alternative form
of energy. It will need to be an adult,
for sure, because they would have needed to have lived long enough to have the
necessary knowledge and training to understand the issues. However, it will be someone who still has
their child-like curiosity, and that innocence.
There is
certainly a difference between being child-like and being childish. I tried to emphasize this to my co-counselor
at camp last year (she had an...interesting counselor style). Being child-like is being able to identify
with the struggles of a child. Being
childish is having the struggles of a child.
Being child-like is being able to play with children, while maintaining
a supervisory or leadership role. Being
childish is playing with children and getting involved in the battles of that
game. Being child-like is being able to
ask the questions that need to be asked.
Being childish is not understanding the answers. Being child-like is being teachable. Being childish is not listening to the lesson. Being child-like is being able to raise
children. Being childish is having never
been raised. There is a very large
difference between the two.
And being child-like is something most people do want to be. Remember my bubbles story. By the way, it never fails that some other college student sees it and thinks, "We can still play with bubbles!" and will then either chase and pop the bubbles, or ask if they can have a blow on the bubble wand.
I want to
be a mother someday. My dream family is
nine boys, for the record. However, I will still love any daughters or a tenth son.
And I don’t want the nine boys for a baseball team, even though most
people respond that way when I tell them of my dream. I have very specific reasons for my nine son dream. But that's another post, another day. But, I hope that when I have children I am able to
be child-like, and help my children retain their ability to be child-like,
without being childish. It’s a skill.
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