Parent’s Old Neighborhood “I Was a Child” (Ages 3-8)
The following conversation took place between my three-year-old and me:
ME: “I was too.”
THREE-YEAR-OLD: “No you weren’t.”
ME: “I was too a child! Grandma is my Mommy.”
THREE-YEAR-OLD: “No she’s not.”
ME: “Yes, she IS.”
THREE-YEAR-OLD: “No, she’s not.”
ME: “And someday you will have children, and I will be their grandpa.”
THREE-YEAR-OLD: “Noooo!”
ME: “Yeeees! OK, into the car, we are going for a little drive.”
If young children could articulate their feelings, they would probably grumble that their parents were conceived as adults, with the purpose in life to order them around, tell them NO, and prevent them from having fun. I believe, however, that it is possible for parents to help bridge the child-parent gap—OK, chasm—by remembering what it was like to be in their children’s shoes, and for them to realize that we once were. Here was my side of the conversation as we took a car ride back in time.
“There it is. That’s where I went to elementary school. Over there on the playground is where I split my pants up the middle playing foursquare. I ran home in embarrassment. See that wall by the playground? I threw wet, colored, crepe paper at that wall and stained it. I got into BIG trouble over that.”
“That’s the house where Grandma raised me. I loved my front yard. I spent hours throwing a ball against that garage, pretending to be a big-league pitcher. Looks like they’ve painted it.”
“See the street curb there in front of the house? I spent a whole afternoon floating leaves down the rain gutter and crying when my best friend didn’t show up to play with me.”
“See that park over there? I had a birthday party there once. We had a big cake to eat, and after we ate it, we played a lot of running games like sack races and relay races, and then I threw–up—everywhere. No, I think they have cleaned it up by now.”
“See that big building over there? I spent more time in that building than anywhere else. It’s the library. I went there to escape, to think, and to get smarter.”
ME: “Well, do you believe I was once a child, now?”
THREE-YEAR-OLD: “Did you really get into trouble, Daddy?”
Rex Bowlby is the father of two boys. He is the author of the book, Why Would I Want the Toy, When I Can Have the Box? (101 Ways to Make the Most of Your Children, With the Least from Your Wallet*) *For parents with children ages 3-8. He lives in Los Angeles, California, USA.