The Advent Calendar

I wish I woke up with the singular splendor of wanting to open a piece of an advent calendar.  My boys are enraptured with the fun of opening the door of our Lego advent calendar.  Our morning begins at 6:30 to my boys running our bedroom, proud of sleeping till the proper time and proceed to ask me to get out of bed to open the door of the current day on the advent calendar.  Inside is a small trinket, a minifigure, or a small model.  nothing extravagant, or over the top.  If I am on my parenting "A" game I can usually facilitate peace as one of the boys build the model and the other watches, and if I am real good, they don't fight over playing with it till after I have had a cup of coffee.

I don't know when that goes away.

I knew a guy in college, let's call him George, George never seemed to make plans.  George always managed to have plans mind you, but he never committed.  After a while I decided Geroge wanted to know what was better out there, so as to not commit in case a better deal came.  I think George was an extreme case of what happens as we grow up, but George did what we most of us eventually do, and I think what most of us do to others.  We seem to decide that you can't get too up for something, enjoy a sandwich too much, or dinner, or a day at the park.  If you seem to have too much enthusiasm it scares people.  People become George to some degree.

I try very hard to be a happy person, respond with a positive perspective, and walk with a little joy in my life.  But I hear from people after I respond with a resounding "Doing great!", "Woah try a little less coffee in the morning there."  As if I there isn't anything to be that happy about.  That "child" innocence becomes taboo when you age, and you really don't have to be an adult to have it happen, plenty of kids will start the attitude against happiness long before they pay rent and bills.

I guess Geroge sneaks up on us, a little bit at a time; or maybe it is just consumerism.  Right now my son loves to open any toy given to him as a present, regardless of size.  At the optometrist's the other day my son was incredible for the doctor, and she was so impressed with his poise she said he could pick two toys from the toy drawer.  His face lit up and I don't think he could have been any more elated.  It didn't matter that they were small simple toys, he didn't exam the quality or the brand.  He just saw new toys he didn't have and they were great; great because he got to play with something new.  Play with them he did too, with all his imagination and inventiveness he could.  I loved to watch him light up and think of things to do with the ball and car.  At some point though we as people will start to say to each other, "Dude, it's just a cheap ball and car, it's nothing to get excited about."

Thankfully we as a society have decided that children should not be subjected to this cruel plight, but kids pick up on it eventually and soon enough another's happiness doesn't matter and it is "okay" to minimize someones simple pleasures.

I think it is just that too, enjoying simple pleasures.  Kids have an innate ability to jump whole heartedly into life's opportunities.  That is refreshing.  I know many friends who move away from Southern California who crave an In N Out Hamburger more than anything upon their return.  If you watch them take their first bite, close there eyes and really enjoy that moment of satisfaction they become a kid, up until some sarcastic "older" person says "It's just a burger."  It is almost as if we lose the right to really enjoy things, because when someone does I think it makes the rest of us jealous that we don't have the same passion for life's moments that they do, so it's better to bring them back to our status quo.

I don't know when that pizazz for life's individual moments fade, and I really hope I am not the one to put out my children's unabashed zest for simple pleasures...I wish I could stop anyone from taking that away from them.