If I only knew then...

At a 4th of July party over the weekend, I watched the Mom of one of the party hosts, somewhat harshly, tell my son to stop going near the fountain and stepping on the flowers.  The fountain was a small "water feature" in the yard, backed up to the side of the garage, with one row of scattered annuals planted in front of it, surrounded by mulch.  The party hosts don't have kids yet, their first is on the way.  Anyone who has or spends time with young children knows what to expect with that mini waterfall.  They want to touch it.  They might even pull over a chair to stand on, in order to reach it.  In this case, the little fountain was about 2 feet tall, and on the ground, so yeah...basically eye level to kids 5 and under.  I didn't blame the grandma for asking my son not to step on the flowers, but it amazes me how quickly people forget what little kids are like.  My son didn't even notice the flowers he had stepped on, nor had the other 5 little kids, they were all just touching and playing with the water, because well...it was there.   Later on, they all began lining up to fill their empty bubbles containers with water from the fountain.   I let them carry on for a bit, despite the disapproving looks of some old, cranky seniors at a table nearby.  I might have rolled my eyes, but made sure it wasn't in the direction of the grumpy fun police. "Are those dirty small people having fun over there? Someone needs to put a stop to that right away!"

Then.....I remembered the 30th birthday party I threw for my husband.  I bought and filled about 40 water balloons for a water balloon toss, put them in water, in a baby pool in the back of the yard.  We didn't have kids yet, but a few of our friends did.  One family who got there early had a son, around 4 years old.  That boy went straight to that baby pool at the back of the yard, within minutes of arriving, and popped every last one of those water balloons, one by one, by throwing them at the ground.  My husband and I were so ticked.  "What a little punk!"       .....and of course NOW, it's more like, "What a couple of clueless adults, putting a baby pool full of water balloons, on the ground, at a party when kids are coming!"

Perspective is something I keep thinking about lately.  Before you say something critical, judgemental, etc....hold up, take a moment, and maybe just don't.  You might end up feeling completely different about it in 10 years.

So help me, as this BLOG is my witness, when I'm older, and I have forgotten what little kids are like, I will NOT be yelling at kids who are having fun....unless their lives are in danger, or they're doing something illegal.

Hope you had a fun 4th weekend!