There’s an old adage about how honest young children are. Toddlers and kids a few years older do not have filters from “experience” or societal dos and don’ts that tend to make you say things more politely and less bluntly.
They have a very virgin, very pure point of view.
While children tend to be very unabashed, they also can be tough to read. Or, maybe it’s just my kids. Or, just maybe me.
From about 2 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008, until about 3:20 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010, I was unemployed. Laid off. A self-employed job seeker. I was very fortunate to be busy enough during that time with freelance/contract work so that I only used up about two-thirds of my unemployment. My wife, Amy, and I had other types of assistance, reduced expenses and watched what we spent.
Amy and I tried to not let “daddy being out of a job” impact the kids too much. As I said, I was very blessed with the contract work I pulled in. We got by.
But the kids were very well aware of how different things were, and it sprang up every so often. Here are a few recent examples.
- In early September, the family had a movie night, and we watched “Daddy Day Care.” One of our kids’ favorites. The movie is about Eddie Murphy’s character getting laid off and eventually starting “Daddy Day Care.” During an early part, there’s a scene with Murphy’s character that goes from the first day or two out of work to six weeks later. Right after that time jump in the movie, our oldest son, 12, says quietly, “Two years later…..”
- On the day I got my job offer, our oldest son was at an after-school dance. Our youngest son, 9 — who knew about my new job — wanted to be the one to tell his brother the good news. He was that excited about it.
- A few days later, before I actually started, our oldest son came home from school and said that a couple people commented to him how happy he seemed to be. He said he didn’t think he was acting any differently. Nothing else of any significance was going on that day.
I’m often amazed at how much my kids teach me and how much I learn from them. Being a parent is one of the most self-realization experiences anyone can ever have. I’m sure of it.
And, every time I get to thinking that any one of our four kids are “just kids” and focused in on their own world — they remind me that they know what’s really going on.
-Mike
Mike Driehorst, a PR & social media marketing professional, and is the editorial director for online media for Chrysler Group LLC. He is happily married to his wife, Amy, and tries not to act like the fifth child in their family. You can catch him online at Twitter, his own blog and a few other places.
