Little Cameras

Little Cameras (1,207)

July 14th, 2011

Some people think children are gifts from God. I guess that’s true—because they’re difficult to unwrap and impossible to return.

Some people think children should be protected at all costs. That sounds like a good idea until they grow up and they’re afraid to be adults because they never learn how to make a decision on their own.

On the other hand, some people think children are “little adults” who should be given the power to think for themselves. That might be fine if they actually had a completed brain.

Some people think having children is having a choice. Others don’t.

Some people think children are little hellions … but since they are basically born pure, somebody else inserted the devil into them.

Some people think children are the angels of God (obviously, no one who just completed a road trip to Disney World and back).

Some people think children should be seen and not heard. This may have worked in a former generation, but now, with all the technology available, they will be heard. Oh, yes. They will be heard.

Some people think children are fragile. It doesn’t make them break less.

Some people think children are tough. Actually, anything over four feet six inches is not allowed to ride the human roller coaster.

Some people think children are boys and girls and should be kept that way. But we do not control the playground.

Some people think the only thing children need is education. Have you ever met a smart brat? Juvenile delinquents often have great intelligence.

Some people think that prayer, Bible study and church attendance is what makes for good children. Of course, statistically, our prisons are filled with more religiously trained people than with those who were taught that there is no God.

Some people think children are …

Well, as you can see, I can go on and on. Talking about children makes adults feel very grown up and mature—excellent parents who have the capability of raising little geniuses.

I’ll tell you what children are. They are little cameras. They walk around with an invisible lens on your life, shutter-bugging you and putting the film into their brains, to be developed much later in a darkroom of their own consciousness—the photographic evidence to be thrown up in your face at a time when you least expect it.

They are always rolling film.

They don’t pick the times when you are particularly righteous, intelligent and powerful. They catch you when you’re grouchy, insincere or even lying.

Click-click-click.

Store it up for later, when the hormones and rebellion of the teen years turn them into nasty paparazzi, trying to use their pics to blackmail you.

They are little cameras.

So for those of you who are just starting a family, remember—everything you do is on film. If you make a mistake, be cognizant enough to ask for a re-take by apologizing, making it clear that you are fully aware of your error. If you do something well, make sure that you explain to your little ones why you chose to do it that way, so that they’ll retain that little piece of information for later development.

What we think about children is irrelevant to what children think about us—because it is what children think about grown-ups that will determine whether they enter their adult lives as excited, energetic, gregarious individuals or rather, as reticent, sarcastic and lazy participants in the great human experiment.

Children are little cameras.

So always make sure you’ve got your clothes on and that you’re on your toes, ready for action, knowing that the cameras are always rolling.