Kid Goggles: Grab one!

I was at The Sultan Center yesterday with my parents. It was a Thursday night, so the place was buzzing. Shopping carts whooshing by, escalators in constant motion, hurried footsteps, cans free-falling off shelves and rolling on the floor, plastic bags crackling- it was nothing short of a sound mosaic. No one seemed to notice or care though. We were all engrossed in our own thing, mindlessly contributing to the big noisy picture.

Suddenly, something changed. There was a sound rising above the rest of the commotion, it was getting more and more distinct and distinguishable against the noisy background. I paused and concentrated, there was no mistake, it was loud and hearty giggles and shrieks, the kind usually reserved for breathtaking rides in Disney World, or roller coasters in the Six Flags.

I craned my neck trying locate the source, everyone around seemed to do the exact same thing.
Bingo! Spotted. It was coming from the electronics section. Apparently there was a video camera on display and it was connected to a wide screen TV and two girls (I'd say they looked about 10 years old) were having a field day doing silly poses in front of it and watching the effect on the big screen. And not far away was what I assumed must be their mother or auntie carrying her mobile and taking pictures of what obviously is a very very happy time for them!

Everyone seemed to have stopped what they were doing and just stood there watching their excitment, it was contagious. The girls were hopping on their very own cloud number 9!

Eventually everyone went on with what they had been doing, and we walked passed them. But hours later, their giggles still echoed in my head...
What struck me most about the whole scene, what truly took my breath away, was the joy the girls seemed to derive from the simplest of things. How many grown ups must've passed by this very same display unaffected, unimpressed and definitely uninterested? Countless I'm sure.

This is yet another magical ingredient in the make up of children. They notice, they appreciate, and boy do they get thrilled!
Do you realise how EASY it is to get kids excited? A seemingly trivial thing to you can generate a wave of gasps from a bunch of wide-eyed children. Anything and everything has potential to be fun and exciting. How great is that?

It is a gift we seem to lose as we grow older, and it saddens me beyond description. Becoming obnoxiously blasé seems to be the trend, and "lame" is a label we pass around only too generously. Day by day we become even more high maintenance, harder to impress, and almost impossible to entertain. Comedies that sent us in uncontrollable fits of laughter a few years ago, no longer elicit so much as a smile. Songs that used to play nonstop on our casettes are suddenly badly written. Your favorite cafe is no long posh enough and an evening of boardgames and pillow fights is unthinkable.
We're imprisoned within the walls of the "standards" we live by. They serve the purpose of giving us a deluded sense of importance and style.

I say it's time we make some changes. It's time we stop teaching kids and start learning from THEM.
For once lets not raise the bar. Only this time, let's not aim high or dream big. let's return to basics, and re-learn how to cherish and embrace the small joys of life.

Next time you're with kids, do not attempt to raise them to your level. Instead kneel down to theirs. It's a totally different view down there; a mesmerising thrill-laden hidden aspect of the same picture. Put on your "kid goggles" and dare to explore!