I simply love the way kids view the world. I nannied for awhile (which further fueled my insane desire to be a mother), and I felt so honored to be near when a child had a “first” anything, or discovered something we as adults take for granted, such as toes, or anything above or below our eye level. Everything is so fresh and all things are accepted simply as they are.

I was pondering this following a first of Nora’s last night. She had her first experience on a swing set!

She got going a little higher than she would’ve liked at one point and got this look of sheer terror that almost made me cry, but passed so quickly and her smile returned. It’s amazing how implicitly she trusts not only us, but her circumstances. She has no fear of being dropped, no knowledge that as she throws all her weight the direction she wants to go, she could fall and be hurt- no knowledge that hurt exists. Of course everyone in her tiny radius is going to pitch in to make sure she’s fed and her diaper never stays wet or dirty.

A couple months ago, Nora and I were at the zoo with some wonderful mommy friends I’ve come to know and love through an app, of all things. One of the babies had on a Superman onesie, and a little boy of maybe three years old walked by us and exclaimed “Hey! It’s Superman!” We were a bit surprised and, upon realizing he was referring to the onesie, the baby’s mom acknowledge that, yes, he was wearing the Superman symbol. The little boy replied, “Oh, that’s cool. So he’s a superhero with superpowers and all that. That’s cool,” then walked off. So very matter-of-fact, not questioning, drawing the most simple and obvious conclusion.

Makes me wonder what life would be like if we retained more of that simplicity as we grow. What a different world we might live in.