Childhood

We celebrated my niece, Faye’s, 5th birthday today at Mulligans, our local amusement park. Picture this, an entire Sunday afternoon spent playing with my nieces and nephews - 9 kids total. Four entire hours spent lining up with them and then watching them play mini-golf, ride paddle boats and go-karts, climb the jungle gym, run around playing laser tag and finishing bags of quarters at the video arcade. The adults outnumbered the kids, but we clearly were no match for their energy level. My nieces and nephews are hyper enough but more so when hopped up on sugar and fast food – they had their fill of pepperoni pizza, barbecued chicken, chocolate cake and an endless supply of juice and soda.



It was quite tiring but also fun watching them. Even at such a young age, each one of them has their unique traits and distinct personalities. In general, all of them are very close and can get along well with each other. But naturally, when you take 9 kids (ages raging from 11 to 1), there is also a lot of tiffs and good-natured ribbing. It is amazing how they can be best friends one minute and mortal enemies the next. There is a whole lot of laughing and giggling but also a fair amount of pouting and crying.

While, we adults, sat close together huddling for warmth, the kids ran around oblivious to the cold. While we grumbled about the long lines for each attraction, the kids patiently waited their turn and amused themselves while in line. While we complained about having to go back to work tomorrow or the endless list of chores that still need to be done at home, the kids didn’t have a care in the world. It is so amazing and so profoundly true, nothing beats the joys of childhood.