It's About Love And Tea Parties

I often say that Viri has the greatest quotes in the universe. I work with a lot of children, and all of them are awesome. I really love the kids in my care, so much so that it makes it difficult to deal with how the parents handle certain issues. I feel a responsibility to the children, because some small part of their lives intertwine with mine. They all have their unique perspectives, and fun takes on the world. But at the end of the day, I love that my son is such a Jaime junior, and that he lives in my world. There is Godzilla and baseball, trucks and motorcycles, and that is just great.

When another kid does come out with a great quote, I'm taken aback. Today one of the kids was comforting another when a game of "sing and dance" made her upset for some reason. She gave the best little speech: "Performance is about friends. We share our microphones. It's about sharing and love. It's about having fun and tea parties."

I was shocked. You're... right, kid. It is about love and sharing and tea parties! I can't believe we all forgot that! It was such a great little speech, and so Viri-esque. I told him about it when we got home, because I thought he'd appreciate the sentiment. "Yeah, that's right. Good," he said. It got the Viri stamp of approval, which is the standard for classic kid speeches. I want to set up a presidential phone call style thing for him, where he calls and congratulates people for these statements. "Yeah, that's right. Good. Bye!"

Today was a long day without him and his sense of humor. I tried. I told one girl that I didn't have soymilk, but milk from our goat in the sandbox. She didn't believe me. "There's no goat!" she said. "Oh no, our goat escaped!" It didn't work at all. They just ignored me and went back to playing sewing. When kids are playing "sew" rather than joke with you, you are officially boring.

At least I was reminded of the true purpose of life. The greatest thing about working with kids is the ability to provide a context. They aren't bogged down by the worries we have, and it's liberating. The next time I get down about money or work, I'm going to remind myself it's about having fun and tea parties. And we share the microphone in this world, mister!