weirdities

man, people are weird.

i re-learn this on a daily basis. and it's not that i'm not one of these people, but that i'm constantly amazed by the many variations on weirdness that are out there.

people say that kids are weird, but that's not really true. kids are brutally honest and incredibly astute. they have little tact (depending on the age, i suppose) and almost never edit themselves. when you have a huge, obvious zit (that no adult would ever point out) a kid will ask "what happened to your face?" i believe that this is out of genuine concern for your well-being. they really just want to make sure that you are ok.

one of my favorite things about teaching was watching 2 and 3 year olds interacting. their empathy for each other was overwhelming. during an art class i was teaching, a little girl stubbed her big toe right before circle time. there were a few seconds of frozen silence, the 'i'm actually hurt' gasp for breath followed by an avalanche of tears. within seconds, the rest of the kids' faces went blank as they watched her cry and then, one by one, they joined her in her state of stubbed-toe misery. in under a minute, the entire class was inconsolable. they were crying for her.

it makes me wonder at what point people stop looking each other in the eye during conversation. when do people start to talk at you, instead of with you. how did we forget to feel what it's like for our friends?

...and when is our circle time?!