Kids Birthday Parties

Tonight a friend of ours kid turned one year old.  I realized as I was at the party, with a bunch of other families and a whole bunch of kids, how children bring people in our state of life together.  This wasn't the first time that I have realized this, but it was one of the most obvious to me.  There were a bunch of parents that I didn't know very well.  All different ages, some who looked to be in their early twenties to a couple that could easily be in there early forties.  All with different jobs, different styles, different appearances, but they can all get together and talk about the thing that they all have in common.  Kids.

Kids seem to be the great unifier.  I have had conversations with people that I would never have thought that I would talk to or connect to on any level.  And  all of a sudden I can sit and talk to them for hours about the silliest little thing.  I remember hearing these types of conversations before, and they always seemed so strange to me.  But now I get it.

And I can play with kids now.  Before, I never would have gotten on the ground and played with a child that wasn't related to me, or wasn't part of a friends family.  I always kind of thought in the back of my mind that I had more important discussions to have, or more grown up activities to participate in.  But now I realize that I couldn't have anything more important going on than giving my attention to a child for a few moments.  And the awesome thing about kids is, they only want my attention for a few moments, then it is off to the next thing.  But allowing myself to connect with them, if only for a moment, really grounds me and puts my big old grown-up life into perspective.