just kids

My roommate has two children. The oldest is 8, the youngest just turned 6. They were at the apartment yesterday when I arrived home. All limbs, hair and smiles. Little bird hugs and back to making paper robots. Their energy and stone cold honesty is infectious. I love when the oldest is brutally honest without even knowing that her words ring insanely true even at such a young age. The youngest stuck a piece of paper on his forehead with an eyeball drawn on.

"Look I have three eyes!"
I turned to my other roommate, "We've been working on that for how long? (We both just got home from yoga) And look, Issac already knows exactly where his third eye is."

They tumbled onto my bed not wanting to get into their own. Matching pajama sets that I must admit I was a bit jealous of. Screaming bloody murder and rolling around laughing not wanting to go to sleep just yet. Tickles work wonders and so do carrying them upside down to their bed. Goodnights and see you soon's, they leave this afternoon to go back to their mums.

It made my night. It reminded me of flying down the hill with my sister and two cousins at my grandparents house when we were little. We were Indians, we were princesses and queens. We were whatever we wanted to be dressed in vintage scarves and dresses tied up with hair bands and pins. Mommom would take us to the candy store down the street. Bags of sugar gummy candies for us and cigarettes for her. I learned to drive at age 6. I sat on her lap and drove down the street and down the driveway. She taught me again at age 16. There were swings underneath their tall deck. I always hated the concrete feel on my bare feet. We'd leap from the peak of a swing into the grass. Our hands would smell like lighting bugs, our hair like grass and woods. The weeping willow tree served as a guest home. I used to walk down the street to sit with the neighbors horses, daring myself to slip onto their backs every day. I never did. I'm glad I waited until my own mum taught me to ride. All four of us rode our ponies. All four of us playing endless hours of whatever we could dream up.

The kids last night reminded me of my own loving family. We're all well into our adult lives and carving out our own places in the world. Watching those two last night made me realize that even though we're all getting older, we should never stop playing and creating.