What are you? A 2-year-old?!

I guess it takes becoming a parent to truly rekindle that sense of amazement over the small and silly stuff. For example, when you first glance at the adjacent photo, do you wonder why the author of this blog would bother uploading a photo of murky dishwater? Why even take a picture of such a mundane subject in the first place?! Truth be told, it isn’t every day that you find a bear paw print in your kitchen sink! (At this point, you either look more closely and exclaim, ‘oh yeah!’ or roll your eyes and stop reading.)

But seriously… Not to imply that one needs to have kids to relive those early years of simple and literal observations. It’s just that young kids in the house better enable the ‘inner child’ within to come out of hibernation, stay and play a while. Guilty as charged… My wife and I watch cartoons and kids’ programs more frequently now that our daughter has discovered the invention of the television. Of course, we need to supervise her! Then there’s Harrison Park, which stands as one of our favourite local outings. These days, we look forward to feeding the ducks and wandering around the playgrounds almost as much as she does. Just wait until she’s ready for school. It’s been a long time since I’ve engaged in arts and crafts, not to mention fundraising bake sales!

Many of us look for ways to get back in touch with who we were once upon a long ago. Funny how in the midst of tedious adult responsibility, that reality hit me in a lukewarm mess of soapsuds! Caught yourself recently playing with a farm animal play set for toddlers 3 and up or enjoying a colourful pop-up book on potty training? I’d be anxious to hear other parents dare to tell their own occasional encounters with their ‘inner kid’.