Jellybeans, Cartwheels and Peppers

Sometimes I watch kids and they just seem so...well, I guess fearless is the word. I watched a little girl pick out bright blue nail polish the other day in about five seconds. Meanwhile, I spent the better part of my "relaxing" pedicure debating between red and frosted red. When we were doing jelly bean math before spring break, one of my girls proclaimed that she wanted to try a black one because she never had before. I was proud of her for that. I fished around for one and she just popped it in her mouth and chewed - and she liked it! We've been sampling fresh fruits and veggies in the cafeteria twice a month and on pepper day I was sure they'd walk right past the table, but nope! Here are my little risk-takers ready to take a bite!

I've got one little girl in my class who wore a rust colored knitted cap with a huge flower on top and knitted braids that hung down on each side for about a month straight. Now she's moved on to wearing two different shoes. I'd never dare to persuade her to be a little more "normal" about her interesting dress habits. I think she's a pretty neat kid for having the moxie to express herself like that.

Toddlers and little kids flash big huge smiles no matter how crooked their teeth are. They cry when they're sad or angry. They express their emotions openly and freely. They fall asleep wherever they are when they're tired.  Somewhere along the line we start to be self conscious of our teeth that might not be perfectly perfect and learn to keep our emotions to ourselves. Even though I have felt like screaming, crying, laughing out loud or curling up for a nap at various times this week, I  didn't. Well, except for the curling up and sleeping part. I did manage to fit in a nap or two after school.

I watch kids who just break into a skip walking down the hallway or do a cartwheel on the recess field and I have to say I'm a little envious. When's the last time I skipped? Have you done a cartwheel lately?
I passed by the pepper table empty handed. I haven't worn a hat in ages, let alone a knitted cap with built-in braids. I have worn two different shoes to school once, but only because I got dressed in the dark and have a few pairs of the same shoes in different colors.

Now I know that not all kids would seek out the black jellybean or bite into a fresh pepper, but it's pretty cool that I get so surround myself with the kind of kids that do just that every day