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I'm no expert in any field. I hold no degree in child psychology and development. I have yet to raise a child fully to adulthood. By no means do I know it all. I have not learned everything there is to learn. I know that won't happen. Not in this life. Nevertheless, I am happy to report that I learn new stuff everyday. The best things I learn, I learn from the very people I am charged with instructing.
Kids notice things that adults miss. I found that out when my oldest son was a toddler. Here he was, nearly two and armed with all the new words he'd learned. We were at a store mundanely purchasing groceries. A chore that Lane absolutely detested usually. However, on this particular day, he was excited about something the whole time while we shopped and strolled down the aisles. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what he was going on about. He sat there strapped in his seat bouncing and excitedly pointing. "Ba-wooooons!" It sounded like balloons, but I'd look up and there was no balloon. Just a boring old warehouse type ceiling. He said it repeatedly where ever we were in the store and he was just so delighted!
Finally while we were standing in the checkout line I realized what he was talking about. They weren't balloons, but it was understandable why Lane thought they were. There were shiny black and white ball-shaped objects that hung from the ceiling EVERYWHERE throughout out the store. I assumed they are some type of surveillance system. I had been in that store many many times before and failed to notice them, even when I looked directly at them. But they didn't escape the notice of my toddler. When I acknowledged that I knew what my son was going on about, he seemed so satisfied and relieved. Like a burden lifted from his tiny shoulders. It was if he sighed with relief, "At last, Mom sees what I see."
Since that day, I have had 3 other children. My husband and I have been endlessly fascinated by what our kids see and by what holds their fancy. A ball is a common, everyday item to we boring adults. But to a baby or toddler, a ball is an amazing, magical thing. It rolls and moves unpredictably, in ways that most other objects can't. It bounces. It is the one thing that we adults encourage them to throw, kick, and hit with a stick. What could be more wonderful?
One day Harrison was pointing at the ceiling yelling and laughing "MAMA! DADDY! HAHAHA!" Like a crazed maniac. We kept trying to explain to Harrison "No, Mama is right here." But he insisted on pointing at the ceiling and laughing his head off. Finally I looked up and I discovered that Harrison was seeing mine and Hank's reflection in the mount that held our hanging light from the ceiling.
Our mirror images were distorted and funny looking.
Hence the manical laughing. I never noticed it before. Kids look. Kids notice. We adults, on the other hand, miss stuff constantly with all our thoughts of things we must accomplish, and all the other "adult" things that clog our minds. I encourage us to stop. To think like a kid every now and again, and notice all the things around us. There is so much beauty and joy in the simplest and most seemingly mundane of things. This world is a delightful place with such wonders. And it is all right here all around. We need only to open our eyes to experience it.