Go for the Gusto!

This afternoon Jaci and I went to St. Jacobs (yes, everything was closed, shut up) and out for dinner with Natasha, and Mark and Krista. Mark and Krista are a couple we met at church and we are starting to get to know.

today's plans came about from Thursday. We went over to Mark and Krista's house for dinner with them, Natasha, and Mark and Krista's two kids, Madison and Eden. These two little girls are two of the cutest kids you will ever see. They are so cute that you almost want to throw out the contraceptives; almost.

So during the dessert phase of the evening, I look over and Eden (the youngest) has one of those applesauce cups that you buy from the grocery store as her dessert. She has taken some of the good stuff and smeared it down her chest (her shirt came off earlier when she spilled on it) almost like Indian war paint from the old John Wayne movies.

Not only did she paint herself, she was digging with her small fingers into the applesauce cup to get every last tasty bit, and jamming them into her mouth. That's when it started to hit me. That was such a simplistic gesture that to me was huge. It reminded me of simpler times when we didn't give a rat's behind what anyone else thought of us as we gleefully ran through the sprinkler of life.

When did it become socially unacceptable to lick the pudding cup? I'm not just talking about the tops, everyone does that. I'm talking about getting your tongue down into the cup to grab every last bit. One would think that as an adult, with a bigger tongue, it would be easier. But we don't do it, at least not in public.

Are we afraid people will think we have no manners? No social grace? Dare I say it; no couth? Or are we just afraid to look like a pig digging for truffles? I don't know, and that saddens me.

I love the fact that not only did Eden dive into that cup with reckless abandon, but parents Mark and Krista let her have at it! That's the best part. Mom and dad let her be her, let her enjoy the meal because really, it all comes out in the wash. It's nothing a paper towel and some soap won't fix, and she looked clean as a whistle by bed time.

I hope that when I have kids of my own that not only will I allow them to dive in with gusto, but that I will teach them how! Pudding cups of the world beware! Your days are numbered!

So I doff my hat to all parents that let their kids enjoy life and all that it has to offer without straddling them with a burden of "What will the neighbors think?"