Tonight Isabel came into the kitchen, pointed at the pot of coconut oil and identified it correctly as coconut oil after a good old sniff.
It just struck me that our kids know a lot more random things about the world than I think we did at their age. Not in a oh-look-we’re-such-fabulous-parents kind of way, more in the way that the world is these days and how I think we all parent differently to our own parents. Not that they did a bad job, it was just different. Life was just a lot simpler back then.
We barely had TV when I was a child (yes, I’m *that* old). We listened to tapes in the car on long roadtrips without aircon from Cape Town to Kimberley. In December.
We were ushered from rooms where adults were talking.
We had to finish every last morsel of food on our plates.
I love that our kids know who Karen Zoid is, I love that they know where they are in the world and have a pretty good idea where they fit in. I love that they are curious, that they have the confidence to ask us a gazillion questions AND expect to get answers. I love that they will try new foods, smell (and later identify) new smells, listen to new music.
I love that we can Google almost anything and the answers are right there.
I love that they speak their minds, that they feel safe enough to express their opinions, whether it pertains to what they have been served for dinner or how stinky a sibling’s fart was. (always a source of great mirth in this household)
It sometimes scares me that they have so MUCH learning to do to keep up with their peers, that there will be enormous pressure on them to stand their ground and just be who they are, regardless.
At the very least I hope that they will passionately curious, that they will not accept the obvious. That they will not compromise their individuality . That they will brighten rooms when they enter and leave joy in their wake.
I hope they will be generous and accepting.
But mostly, I hope they won’t take shit from anyone that hasn’t earned their respect.
Not too much for to wish for nê?
ps. This didn’t turn out anything like what I had in mind when I started writing, but I like it. So I’m keeping it