From the lips of the innocent

It never ceases to amaze me the things that kids will say. This week I've been teaching Vacation Bible School at my church and I've learned that Bill Cosby got one thing right, 'kids say the darndest things'. I had one kid make fun of another because he had 'squinty eyes', I had another tell me that his dad can't come and see him sing tonight because 'he's in jail because he did bad things'. There are so many times when I don't even have a response for these tiny people that I just blankly stare at them hoping and praying for appropriate words to come together in my brain. I think that thing that most suprises me about what these kids say is the vast difference in what they say. I had one boy tell me that I was very pretty, it made my night. I felt really good about myself because kids simply tell it like it is. Then another girl crushed my super happy high. She was asking me things that she felt made me a grown up. She asked me if I had a house, so I said no. She asked me if I had an apartment, and I said no. Then she asked if I had a boyfriend, and when I said no she gave me a horrified look and said "you don't even have a boyfriend!?" In her eyes I was a failure, because not only did I not have a place of my own yet, I also had no one special in my life. In my eyes I'm perfectly fine. I'm in school on my way towards graduation and I don't need a man to make me happy. It's funny how different the world looks through such a small pair of eyes, when big people are supposed to have houses and cars and families. But one thing about working with kids is for sure, they'll always keep you on your toes.