Childhood is Such a Gift!

It was at a recent high school football game that a realization about childhood struck me.  As the packed stadium roared, booed, and went wild over a close rival game, I caught sight of all the kids playing in the grass next to the bleachers.  They were so happy, laughing with each other, playing games of their own, and just being free.  As I made my way toward the concession stand, a ball rolled across my path, bumping into a man standing next to the fence, watching the game.  A breathless boy of about eight ran after the ball.  He picked it up where it had bounced off the man's leg, looked the man in the eye, and said "Sorry, sir" before heading back to his friends.  I was amazed, but so, so happy!  How long has it been since you have heard a child say something so respectful and appropriate to an adult?  The man was very gracious about it all too.  I think he was surprised as well.

This got me thinking, considering I work with children and have two of my own.  What a HUGE gift childhood is, and it is so important to be sure that childhood is happy!  Bringing our children up to be respectful and well-mannered is not an easy task, especially in this day and age.  But what a relief, what happiness fills our soul, when we see the little ones that we've worked with use nice manners, share toys, and be nice to adults.  But we need to always remember how precious children are.  Childhood is so short.  We want the best for our children, and it's easy to get them too involved.  This isn't a bad thing in itself, but we need to remember that kids are just kids, and they're only kids once.  They need to run, be free, PLAY!!  At The Pa-Paw Patch, we know that children learn through play, and we encourage kids to be kids.  We hope, as well, that we can give all of our Patchers a happy childhood and happy memories of their play days here at the Patch.  We hope and pray that ALL children know love and kindness through their childhoods.  I can't speak for the quality of the childhood of the little boy at the ballgame, but he knew his manners, and was running free!