Lessons that children teach us start from the day they are born and continue through their childhood into adolescence onto that imperceptible crossover into adulthood. It is not as if a switch is thrown suddenly at the strike of the midnight hour on their eighteenth birthday! It is a slow and gradual process that transforms a child into an adult and a teacher into a student.

At eight thirty today in the morning, passing the Old Fort on my way to work, I saw a Police Gypsy... well... Qualis! The driver was a policemen in his thirties, perhaps. the subject of my interest was, however, his 'co-pilot'! This man sitting in the front seat had propped his arm on the rolled down window and his head was resting on his arm. Resting! Quite literally. This man, this policeman, was sleeping at eight thirty am. What kind of a hard night could he have had? What kind of goons, or road rage perpetrators could he have chased? What kind of accident victims could he have ferried to the nearest hospital? What could be making him so sleepy with the sun staring him in the face at this time in the morning?

Coming back to the children... Mine had woken up about two hours earlier, had a bath, eaten their morning snack, and readied themselves for the school. They were well into their "work" day!

Two hours earlier, not only have I begun my day but also that of these little children.

They wake up every morning rubbing their eyes with innocence that only a young child can accomplish. It is still the most endearing thing in the morning. Tiny hands going over tiny eyes.
" Mom I am feeling sleepy!, moans my son. We stretch and we read and try whatever else may open our eyes enough to get through with the rest of the routine, including a misting spray!

Children feel every emotion fully, live each moment fully, they are always here, NOW!

When they are happy... they laugh out LOUD NOW.
When something hurts, they wail as if there isn't going to be a tomorrow... NOW.
When they go to school, they may love it or hate it... they are not passive beings given to indifference.

And adults?
Driving the car... AND planning the first meeting in the office!
Talking... AND thinking what to say next.
Having fun... AND drifting back to that project deadline that they have to meet.
Teaching a class BUT thinking about the course to be finished!

We do need to learn a lot from our children...
Live, love, enjoy and cry fully... NOW