Time Travel with Kids
Well, after writing that title, all I can think about is exactly that: how awkward it could be if one were traveling time like any other vacation and what complications might come into play!
What I set out to write, however, was an anecdote of a visit I had with a young man yesterday. Let’s call him Davy (in truth, I have no idea what his name is!). I was working at a garage sale and bored out of my mind when this kid rolled up on a scooter. I’m a bad judge of age, but he must have been in first grade, maybe, if that.
Stock photo of a kid who looks like Davy/Jaxson.
Davy was immediately the most interesting person I’d met all day. He approached me frankly, making eye contact like a friendly adult, and set into a conversation with me about an item we had for sale. He had several questions, felt my price was too generous, and told me he would have to come back the next day with some money.
What happened next was what really got me. He began telling me about his day at school, not in baby talk, but eloquently and eagerly. He had been on a school field trip to Exploration Place (a science museum in Wichita). He was telling me about several exhibits and his previous trips there. I told him of mine. We both listened attentively to each other.
I titled this post “time travel with kids” because that little exchange sent me on a two-decade flash back to time I spent with my own son, Jax. Davy was so much like Jax, from his complexion and hair (red) to his mannerisms, vocabulary, and sincere interest in making meaningful conversation. I felt like I was talking to that young man of mine all over again.
I did not take Jax for granted back then, near twenty years ago, for I knew he was someone very special, that his speech patterns and interpersonal skills were phenomenal. Likewise, I didn’t take my exchange with Davy for granted, either, but cherished ever bit of conversation we had. I truly felt I was sitting there with my young son again, as if I’d traveled time to when he was that age and of that attitude. It’s a very special memory I have of raising Jax, when we had such deep and significant conversations over Star Wars characters and Ben 10’s various incarnations (yes, he used that word at age 4).
Today Davy returned to the sale and purchased his item, but I was away at another sale. Later, however, he returned and we had a great visit over some trophy parts and discussed what coin was used for what exchange of money. A quarter is like a big, thick dime, with the ribbing on the edges like a water bottle lid…and so on. What would the trophy we were making from raw parts be honoring? Who might he some day give it to? All this was part of our all-too-brief exchange.
I really enjoy being in the company of what others call “littles.” I think they’re unsullied, that they’re honest in ways grown ups dare not be. They are so very engaging that I hope to seek out more exchanges just as soon as I can. One of my family said I’m just suffering from not-yet-a-grandpa syndrome. I dunno. I think I’d like to engage with these kids, anytime, whether I live long enough to be a grandpa or not. Such kids are fascinating!
