Just being around children brings gifts of wonder, laughter, and looking forward to each day. 

All grown-ups were children at one time, no matter how big we are now, whether we work, what professional or lifestyle. Children are truly a gift who come into a family’s life, whether it be immediate family, extended family, or friends, children are gifts. 

Let’s all turn back the clock and reflect on our childhood years and what children really mean to us.

•Go back to “It’s  a small world after all.”

We all remember that song. Looking through the eyes of a child at the world brings joy into our lives. Sitting down with children and reading classic children’s books, enjoying a child’s movie together, with little ones being so close to the ground, they can see the yard and ground up close and notice animal and plant life that you might not notice, being fascinated by the moon or stars, noticing a fallen bird that needs to be fed with drops of water, running through rain, jumping in a pile of leaves, rolling down a hill, reclaiming our childhood excitement through the holiday excitement, etc.

All this and more give us the opportunity and time to be surprised again as we reflect back on our childhood by enjoying these things through the lives of children. What a wonderful gift children bring to us of being excited about times gone by or being able to do-over things that we may not have done.

•The gift of wonder and fun.

Children’s wonder of observing things we may not even notice, such as birds, planes, cloud shapes and ants working busily, are keenly observed and pondered by young children. As we grow up we sort of forget those things that made us happy.

Children love to sing “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” because they can do the animal sounds. They love to do the cow moo, the cat’s meow, the dog’s bark. 

The wonder of swinging in a swing up to the sky or playing house with your friends—or imagination friends—are passing wonders that children treasure. 

It’s neat to recapture the joy of those years as you spend time with children.

Children point out the life we live as “full” No. 1, but more than that, they live each moment of their lives and notice and interact with what is around them. Children give grown-ups the gift to “take time to smell the roses” as the old saying goes.

•The gift of being needed.

Babies come into the world dependent on us.  By a cry, a squirm, a facial expression they let us know their needs. 

For some reason as we grow up we get this notion that we have to be self-sufficient, independent. When having children, teaching children, or working with children, you realize real fast you need help!

One of those needs moms and dads realize is the need for patience.  You have to have the need for wisdom in asking other folks how they may have handled a particular situation; you also need kindness, and mostly, forgiveness.

I have learned over the many years I have been teaching that children are the most forgiving in almost all situations. When this teacher is tired and has sort of lost it for the day, my little class of first-graders, kindergartners, or preschoolers are the first to give me a hug when I feel like I have been quite impatient with them on a certain day.  What melts my heart is when I have had to discipline a little-one by putting them in “time out” and the child, after serving punishment, looks up and says “Miss Beth, I love you.”

Love means time spent, whether it is in teaching, having fun, and even disciplining a child. Children need us very much and they gently remind us that we are needy too.

•The gift of hope:

I can still see my little son jumping up and down when I promised him after a week of good behavior that we would go see “The Jungle Book.” I see this also when I have told my preschool classes that if we finish all our work and clean the room,  that we are going to go outside for recess.  Their little faces get so excited, I just can’t help getting excited with them.  Field trip is something that young children really look forward to after a unit of study.  It gives them hope of applying something they have learned. I see hope in the eyes of young children when they are drawing something they truly like. I see hope in the eyes of a young child when they are building something with blocks or Legos and they know they will be proud of the completed project.

•The gift of being a better  person:

As I reflect back over my years of mothering now a 22-year-old son, I see that my only child has pointed out things to me through growing up that I am so very thankful for. I feel the same way with all the little personalities I have taught over many years. 

Children keep you well grounded in what is important and what is not. Children help us to live and enjoy the moment if we step back and allow ourselves to see their world through their eyes. Each day is such a gift and one in which we don’t need to let a minute go by!

Beth Pinyerd serves as director of younger children at Faith Family Fellowship in Spanish Fort.