The power and jou of children’s words

Children of all ages routinely make me laugh in the play room. They just have such a unique way of looking at the world and of being in it, it’s incredibly refreshing.

My Favewit

I had a little guy this year who said everything was his “favewit”. Picks up a car with no tyres left on its wheels -(a vintage car that I don’t want to get rid of because the doors open and that’s so cool!)- and declares “ah! it’s my favewit!” We go for a walk around the garden and we’re looking at different plant textures, picking some leaves and some flowers and every single one that we examine he declares “ah! it’s my favewit!” My best was one day he went to the bathroom and I stood waiting outside, made sure he washed his hands afterwards and then pointed out a giant roll of roller towel to dry his hands and he declares at the top of his voice “AH! It’s my FAVEWIT!” I absolutely had to have a quiet giggle beneath my mask.

I laugh, but what this preschooler taught me is that he lives completely in the moment. What he is doing right in that moment is so absorbing and joyful to him that it is truly his favewit (favourite, if you haven’t got that by now!) Even roller towel. In that moment, he appreciated the size and the vastness of a roll of paper towel in a bathroom, it pleased him, and therefore it was his favourite thing right then and there.

Is she an old lady?

Pre-schoolers, you gotta love them. So, because little children often come straight to play therapy after school, trips to the bathroom happen sort of regularly. For this story you also have to know I share working space with two physios. One day we were walking back from the bathroom to my office and an elderly lady was practicing walking with a walking frame across the reception area, a fairly normal occurrence in this space. The pre-schooler and I walk past and then he comes to a dead stop and looks back at her and says “Is she and old lady?” – pretty much at the top of his vocal volume. (whatdoisaywhatdoisay? I am thinking how to honour this lady, hoping she clocked that he’s 3 and a bit feet in height. And I am trying not to look at the physio who I see out the corner of my eye has her mouth curled up at the edges, I know if I look her in the eyes it might not go so well for me and the child will think this is really funny and this is not really honouring of the elderly lady who is actually working jolly hard at her rehab).

Oh, pre-schoolers, they’re wonderful but sometimes they make a lot of work!

Hanitizer

Yet another pre-schooler calls sanitizer ‘hanitizer’ and now it just makes sense to me. I’m off to hanitize, peeps!

Beautiful expressions

Then there are moments when children express themselves so beautifully, and so poignantly. I wish I could always write their phrases down, but you know in that moment when a child is expressing something is often not the time to be saying “Wait, let me write that down.” There are a few I can recall well, though.

Once I was finishing off working with a young lass and one of the reasons I knew I could finish was that she was able to express that “The Sad” that she had was much less now than before coming to see me. Sadness had become all too real to her that she could give it character and shape, hence “The Sad”. The good thing about this, is that “The Sad” may come to visit sometimes, as it does for all of us, but maybe it doesn’t have to kick off it’s shoes and live here forever and ever.

Recently a middle-school aged child said to me “I feel strong when I am happy.” Such a simple expression and yet it has so much truth to it. She gave a perfect starting point to talking about how emotions can fuel, or indeed deplete, our energy.

Photo by Juan Encalada / Unsplash

I hope you take some time to play and talk with a child, and really listen. Yes, they can be very funny and sometimes very cute, but if you listen a bit deeper, there’s always something they’re telling you about themselves and the way they see the world. Listen for that, respect that and honour them.

Oh, and if they embarrass you by being very honest? Well, that’s just a part of the deal!