Through Their Eyes

     If you would like to get a new perspective on how small children see the world, give them a camera.

     It can be the camera on your phone, they already know how to use it, or an old digital camera that you may have laying around.  It could even be one of the disposable film cameras, the kind that has to be developed and you send the whole camera in, if those are still being made.

     The images they capture are amazing.  They are always looking up and from that angle, everything looks bigger.

     The first time I noticed this was during Christmas several years ago.  One of the kids had grabbed the camera and later, as I scrolled through the pictures, I was astounded.  The room looked huge, the tree looked huge, everything looked bigger than it actually was.

     When we tell a child not to be afraid of a dog that has come to greet them, imagine what that dog looks like from their vantage point.  Even a chihuahua can look big when it strikes you at your knees and a golden retriever must look like a lion.

     When I was driving a school bus, my oldest grandson rode with me quite often after school.  My route had a great scenic view. There were fields of corn and beans and winding roads through the woods.  There was always something to look at and usually some sort of wildlife to get a glimpse of.

     One day, after we had dropped the last kids off, my grandson commented on a house we drove by.  He said to me, "Gi, that house looks like the ones in Washington D.C."

     Knowing he had never been to Washington D.C., I didn't have a clue where he was going with this observation so my obvious response was, "Washington D.C.?"

     Being a true member of the male species, he replied with a one word answer, "Yeah."

     I thought about the house for a moment and said to him, "Oh! Because of the pillars in the front?"

     "Yes!", he answered, "Those are cool and the house is so big."

     Always wanting to share my grandmotherly wisdom I said, "One reason the house looks so big is because of where it is located." Which happened to be on top of a hill. "The house is not very old and the trees are small.  When you are my age, we need to drive by it and see if it still looks as big as you think it does now."

     He thought for a moment and asked, "How old will you be when I'm your age?"

     "92."

     Without missing a beat he said, "Well, I'm driving then!"

     Children are like sponges, they take in everything they see. They watch us like a hawk watches for a tasty field mouse.  They observe how we live, how we handle situations of stress and how we treat other people.  To them we are larger than life.  We are the ones they look up to and as they grow, what they have witnessed will usually shape them into the person they become.  

     It might be a good idea, every once in a while, to get down on our knees and view things through their eyes.