All kids should live carefree

The last time I talked to my daughter I found out that their school is out for the summer. Granddaughter Emma was asked what her plans were for her vacation. She said she was going to carve boats out of soap and race them down the creek.
I think I have created a monster. A few visits ago I shaped some popsicle sticks into knives, bought 20 bars of Ivory soap and taught the grandchildren how to carve boats. Actually, carve is the wrong word. Hacking, poking, and stabbing are more descriptive of the process the children used to create boats that looked a lot like soap that had been attacked by a weed wacker.
The last time we tried this activity, the water in the creek was only a few inches deep and the flow was so slow that the boats didn’t go anywhere even after we prodded them with sticks. The boats were still in the same place the next day. I have been told that the water is slightly deeper this year so maybe Emma will have more luck than we did last time.
Emma also told me about her pet rat. As far as I am concerned, rats are disease-ridden vermin that should be exterminated. Yes, I know they have a niche in the grand scheme of things, but I certainly don’t want them anywhere near my grandchildren. They assured me this was a very nice rat and its name is Frost. Nevertheless, I don’t want anything to do with it.
While we were on the subject of vermin, my daughter had to interrupt the conversation several times to yell at the five year old. He was determined to catch a baby snake that had slithered under the house. I could hear him argue that he wouldn’t get bit because he intended to grab it by the tail. He didn’t believe that baby snakes are more dangerous than big ones. So far, the snake has managed to avoid the rambunctious boy. However, the firewood that his daddy had stacked to strategically bar the opening to the crawl space has all been tossed aside.
The littlest boy could be heard asking about clouds. He wanted to touch one. He did seem to accept the answer that they were up in the sky and too far away to touch. I wanted to tell him that fog could be called a cloud and to wait until the next foggy day and he could not only touch a cloud, but walk inside one. But I figured that was too much for a three year old to grasp, so I didn’t say anything.
We continued our conversation until the snake hunter needed to be reminded once again that the critter was dangerous. He still didn’t believe it. I am hoping that it is long gone before our next visit.
I sometimes forget how determined and inventive children can be. They are not miniature adults and seldom listen to reason. They live in a world where soap boats will traverse a shallow stream even though they did little more than bob in the water the last time we tried to race them. Children live in a world where it is easy to catch a snake by the tail and not get bitten. They believe it is possible to touch the sky.
They don’t worry about all the dire headlines in the news. Food and shelter are taken for granted. A warm bed at night and people who love them are not even noticed.
I can’t help but be grateful that this is so. There are so many across this earth of ours who don’t have these simple things . . . so many who are waiting … waiting for a time when they can sail hand-made boats, have pets that make a grandmother cringe, catch snakes and touch the sky. I wish all children could live their lives as easily as this. Perhaps someday we will all value our children as highly as they deserve to be. Who knows? It could happen.[[In-content Ad]]