The childlike and the childish

I am lucky. I’m lucky for lots of reasons, but one of the biggest is: I’m lucky because I have an amazing kid. He’s a few months into kindergarten right now, and he’s without question the absolute best thing in my life.

I know all parents brag about their kid(s), and I fully acknowledge my own lack of objectivity on this topic. But he’s genuinely sweet. He’s a good friend. He listens. He cares. He’s polite, and mild-mannered. He’s loving and kind, smart, and inquisitive.

He loves learning. He’s filled with a wondrous awe at many things I’ve long take for granted, or never thought about at all. He finds such pure, simple joy everywhere he looks.

In particular, he loves animals. He can rattle off amazing facts about more sea creatures than I even know exist. He knows I listen to science podcasts, and regularly asks me to tell him what I learned from them, and if there was anything about animals in this one.

He thinks to ask questions that have never even crossed my mind. He’s given me a new perspective on the world—one that makes me realize a lot of things we take for granted actually don’t make a lot of sense. (Like how we say “fast,” “faster,” and “fastest,” but we don’t say “good,” “gooder,” and “goodest.”)

Leave a Comment