Who needs prozac when you have two-year-olds?

I stopped at my mother's day care center today and ended up hanging out in the two-year-old room. The kids were finishing up snack time and suiting up to go outside to the play ground. I tried to sneak past the room on my way down the hall to the bathroom but got caught by one of the kids as I walked past the door.

"Hey!! We're going outside!!" he starts telling me, without using his "inside voice." Clearly such matters are more important than such basic trivial rules. Of course, how can I not go talk to them after they all begin to run to the door way?

After jacketing them and discussing the weather and their snack, I tell them I have to leave because I need to go to the bathroom. One of the little girls has managed to attach herself to my leg by this point and repeats my statement back to me.

"You're going to the bathroom?"

"Yeah, I'm going to the bathroom."

"You can go by yourself?"

"Yeah, I can go by myself."

She then lets me go and I make my escape, only to find them walking down the hallway after I've gone to the bathroom and am heading the same way back to the office. They had to show me all of the items in their cubbies and tell me how much they like Dora the Explorer or Spiderman.

After having such a down week, it was refreshing to find these tiny minds so excited for attention and so eager to talk about their world. Kids have such an enchanting effect on me. They see the world so differently than adults or college students. Even going to the bathroom is an adventure for them; a task they strive to excel at so they can wear big girl panties instead of pull-ups or dipers. Hanging around with children helps you put things in perspective. Maybe there's more important things than going to the party that night. Maybe you should enjoy having those extra moments to goof off with your roommates. Life can still be as exciting as it seems for children, you just have to make it so.