Mothers are crying, lives are changing and those once seen as children are growing up before your very eyes. Is this a wedding? A funeral? No, nothing so trivial; it is a kindergarten promotion. Just when you think their cute little round frames, trying from the tips of their toes to look calm and poised, cannot look any more adorable fidgeting in front of the crowd, they open their little cupid mouths and begin to sing. Nobody minds that they are off key, and the only reason they know the words is because their teacher is crouching in front of them mouthing along to the entire song. None of this matters when you hear the pure, innocent voices in chorus, singing, “Someday I’m going to grow up, so remember me while I am small.” It does not matter if you are an emotional mother or the ultimate tough guy: you are crying, and your heart is not functioning correctly because it has just been melted right out of your chest.
This sweet scene is forever painted in your mind, untainted and cherished to the end of your days. However, as we grow older, we tend to separate this sense of sweet purity from the people we see on the streets.
As a society, we cannot wait to grow up, so we try to banish what we have left of childhood innocence. We shy away from admitting to ignorance and thus constrain ourselves from learning. Admitting faults becomes not a fact of life, but a matter of pride.
We forget that as well as being a full-time adult, we still on occasion need to cry like a three-year-old or ask questions like a five-year-old on their first day in kindergarten.
Life is constantly changing around us, and we must stop refusing to ask questions and learn to rely on those around us. Our peers, parents and children all have the ability to be that teacher, to crouch down in front of us, and tell us everything is going to be okay. If we fail to be vulnerable, we fail to learn, and we fail to grow.
I will allow those around me to instruct me so we may help each other grow. So our voices, indefinitely together, and supremely more in sync, sing, “Someday I’m going to grow up, but I remember the time I was small.” Simultaneously firing up and melting the hearts of all those watching.