"What letter is this and what sound does it make Ben?" I asked.
It's a B and it makes a buh sound! Like basketball! You know I play basketball."
I laughed and asked if he was any good
“Yeah! I play with my brother and we have a game every Saturday. You know last game we won and I scored…”
As I listened to this little child tell his story I couldn’t help but marvel at the simple wonders that a child sees. I watched him describe each basket he made with such enthusiasm that I could not help but be just as excited as he was. He spoke with such electricity it was hard to not become infected with his childish mindset. I have found that with every year that I tutor children like Ben I appreciate more of what they see. Children are not clouded by reality, they live wholly in imagination; they see the world as it should be and so they live life with vibrancy we could all take lessons from. As we grow up we forget to just listen. If we took the time to hear how children speak in the simplest and purest of tones we could gain so much wisdom and clarity. Because although children live in imagination, it is that imagination that is the reality we should be trying to emulate.
I am extremely thankful to have been able to spend time with each and every one of the children I have tutored. They have taught me things I could learn from any other. Every child deserves someone who will listen, truly listen, to what they have to say. I hope that I was gave them that. It was such a precious gift they gave me. I would like to think I made a difference in their lives. I would like to think they gained as much from me as I from them. For I know that each of them has allowed me to go back in time and see my world in the way it was intended; the way before society molded it for me. They showed me clarity, and when my world becomes foggy once more I will think back on those cherubic faces and find their clarity once more.
(The name of the child has been changed for privacy's sake)
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