Open house at my kids’ school was last week. The children anticipate this day for weeks; they prepare some work and clean up their desks and (some) teachers set up their classrooms really nicely. It is a show off, for everyone.

It took place on a Thursday, so I rushed out of work to make my 90 min commute and make it on time. I wasn’t exactly thrilled to be there, I was just tired.

My son couldn’t have cared less, he followed directions and completed his assignments that were to be shown, just to comply. My daughter however, was jumping and skipping all the way there, so proud and happy.

One of the sheets they showed, was a fill-in-the-blanks  Bios of each child, self written. On the line where it said “My favorite person is…” she wrote MY MOM.

That alone made Open House worth it. On another sheet, they asked what her biggest accomplishment was, she wrote MY PARENTS.

Despite the fact the she has yet to learn to meaning of the word accomplishment, I still loved her answer.  These years full of affection and need for TLC are so gratifying, I know I will miss them!

Another sheet asked what a person with “all the power in the world” should be or do, she answered: “I would let someone have all the power in the world even if he didn’t brush their teeth or their hair really good”. So yes, she thinks a bit of disarray should be totally fine, even for Mr. Obama. We should take time to listen to how our little ones think, their very unique opinions.

At times it really is hard not to laugh. Yesterday my son was asking  me about a City that starts with a “D”, on the other side of the world, where there are a lot of rich people, because that is where his friend is going.  “Dublin?” I asked. Then he told me that it takes you 16 hours to get there by plane, so I put 2 and 2 together, and I said,..”You must mean Dubai”.

“Yes!”  he yelled.  “Where every day someone turns into a millionaire. Why don’t we move there Mom?”

Then my daughter said, “Dublin is the capital city of Ireland”. Surprised by her piece of information, I proudly turned to her and confirmed what she said, to which she added “…just like Hollywood is the capital to the United  States, right Mom?”

I enjoy having these conversations anytime with them, because they remind me that they are still my babies in a way, and that- to them-, I am still smarter than Google. LOL!

A day doesn’t pass by in which one of them corrects my pronunciation, and still they make me feel like the smartest cookie of all times. Having deep conversations with a 8  or 10 year old can be frustrating yes, but most of the times, it can be very refreshing. A reminder that life can be simple. A reminder to calm down and enjoy one thing at a time.

I teach them to look in the eye when they speak, to not use tablets or phones on the table, and those are exactly the lessons they remind me of when they need my undivided attention.

It does come as a surprise very often,  how much a child can teach you… if you care to listen. So let us…listen.