Their Smiling World

"Ms. Mariam I wanna say something! Please please pleeeeeeeease"- Nasser's voice shot up during today's science class about "shadows". He's such a great kid; as cute and sweet as they come:) I told him to go ahead, and watched as he hopped out of his seat and helped himself to a marker and headed to the whiteboard where I guessed he was going to illustrate something to us. I watched curiously so see what he's going to draw, and soon realised he was drawing the sun. He started with the circle, then the rays shining around it, then- to my amusement- went ahead and added eyes and a smiling mouth to the sun :)
He did that so matter-of-factly, and it prompted no giggles or teasing from the other kids, that I had to conclude that as far as fourth graders are concerned, the sun is a person and a happy one at that!

Last year when I was with Grade 1 girls, I learnt to expect anything and everything they drew to smile at me; be it stars, clouds or even a pair of socks!
Then I moved to teaching grade four boys, and in so many ways that was a totally different experience. And yet, in so many ways, it was the same.

Looking at the sun smiling at me today made me feel that more strongly than ever. Grade 1 or Grade 4, boys or girls, angels or devils, the fact is: they're KIDS!
I dunno, something about kids never fails to marvel, amuse and completely bewitch me.
Some must be thinking it's "just a smiling sun", what's the big deal? Well, the way I see it, it's an inside scoop on the children's little minds. If you think about it, you'll find it to be pretty interesting. When kids draw, they individualize everything, and almost always add the element of feeling. The sun is happy, and so it is smiling. They would almost always choose a smiling face, because that's what they feel is the normal. This is the world as they see it, feel it and love it to be. Everything around them smiles. If a child draws something with a sad face, ask them why. They'd always have a reason to share. Always.

I went on a journey down memory lane trying to recall the last time I drew my sun with a smiley face on it. But for the life of me, I couldn't remember. Does any of you guys remember? When do we decide we are too grown up to add features to our drawings. Does it happen gradually or is it abrupt, as in your sun was smiling yesterday and today it's faceless. Just like that.

At which point exactly in our lives does the sun stop smiling?

Or maybe my question should be... when exactly does the world stop smiling at us?