The Laughter of Children

I was doing deliveries today. When I drove up to a church something caught my gaze. There through the overly expensive glass doors I saw a group of children between the ages of 4 and 6.  There were probably 20 kids and 2 teachers.  I reached for the door handle to get out of the van and go inside, but then I changed my mind.  Not wanting to disrupt their activity I sat and watched them for about 15 minutes.  Hey, don't say it, they take out a 30 minute lunch break on me no matter what I do every day.  What's wrong with watching children play?

I watched one of the teachers lead them in a chaotic game of Simon Says.  "Simon says hop on one leg, Simon Says spin around, Simon says clap your hands, sit down.  Ohhh, Simon didn't say sit down, you are out!"  They were having so much fun, laughing, clapping, hopping, screaming and spinning.  Some were having so much fun they kept on spinning until they fell down and then rolled around on the floor.

A few minutes went by and then it was time to play Pretend.  Do you remember pretending to be someone or something?  The untainted imagination of children is the absolute best.  They all pretended to be carrying something very heavy.  Then they pretended to be monsters, holding their hands up high, growling and chasing each other around.  Then they pretended to be ballet dancers and they twirled around the room.  Later it was zombies, with their heads down and cocked sideways they drug one leg behind and slowly moped around the room.  Then the teachers lost control and all the kids did what kids do best, act silly.  They were dancing, running, spinning, hopping, jumping and having a ball.

 THIS ^^^^^ is what it is all about to me.  These ^^^^^ children are the perfect example of pure enjoyment.  Fun and a lack of peer pressure equals total happiness for these kids.  I could tell that even the teachers were having a ball.  Just for a few minutes they forgot they were grown ups and they were free to play.  THIS ...... is what I need to see more of.  The smiles, cheers, playfulness, joy, imagination, and above all:  The Laughter of Children.