What does that mean?

I feel like we all know someone who is a kid at heart. They are the people who always seem to have a twinkle in their eye. Who seem like they’re having fun, even when they are sitting around not doing much of anything. They’re the ones who can make a trip to the grocery store a little bit of an adventure, and have fun doing it.

They can manage to be spontaneous. In a good way!

I’ve had a couple uncles who were very much kids at heart.

One was my Uncle Rico. He had a garage in my small hometown, where everyone knew everyone, and I could walk from my grandfather’s house to church/school, my godmother’s, my grandmother’s, and everyone in between. Back when whoever was watching us let us go out, into the neighborhood for hours at a time, and most notably, gasp, !Unsupervised!

Do you remember having wide open afternoons, a bike, and a neighborhood to go exploring in? Such a gift, truly, and one that I wasn’t particularly grateful for at the time. I didn’t know any better.

My Uncle’s garage was out there, and whenever I’d go to see him, he’d give me a dollar for some ice cream and a coke from the soda machine. This was back in the days of glass coke bottles that you popped the cap off on the opener of the soda machine.

A soda. In a glass bottle. Out of a machine. 😛 It seems so luxurious now to think about. Maybe excessive is a better word.

Uncle Rico always had a cigar he was chewing on. Was always happy to see us. He was never too busy to hang out for a bit and spend some time visiting. He seemed relaxed. Able to enjoy himself.

I think to be a kid at heart, you’ve got to be a little bit laid back. Like, you don’t take things (and especially not yourself) too seriously.

You know that old saying about stopping to smell the roses?

A kid at heart does that. And takes a little extra time to see if there are any bugs crawling around too. I think being a kid at heart means that you are present. Paying attention to what’s going on around you. And able to enjoy yourself while doing it.