I’ve used this quote about the magic of childhood before, but it’s a favorite;
“For a child, every day is like going to Paris and falling in love for the first time”.
I was reminded of it over the weekend, when we took up Big Sis’ excellent suggestion and went for a ride on public transport.
The whole family boarded a tram into the city, with no plan in mind other than - go into town and see what was happening! The kids loved it, I mean really loved it. It made me remember how as a kid something can be so exciting for you, but mundane for the adult world!
Little Bro shouted “Wheeee” every time the tram accelerated from a stop and watched everything outside the window with earnest interest, calling out observations on the top of his voice - “car”, “truck”, “bubba pram”, “tree”!
Big Sis saw the inside of the tram as the main event and enjoyed the way people got on and off, so there was always a fresh person nearby with whom to strike up a conversation! She became quite practiced at the art of small talk and usually managed to get out her name, age, birthday and favorite colour. A few times I stopped her as she gave out her full name and address to total strangers but I find ’stranger danger’ hard to explain to a 3 year old. The way she sees it, if they are sitting that close, they can’t really be strangers!
There was lots of fun to be had in the city, an encounter with the monsters pictured above, a busker who sang songs with his dog (poor Dog - something else you don’t do according to Big Sis) and even lunch in Chinatown!
But somehow nothing compared to the public transport ride - the kids were elated when we once again boarded the number 196 tram and traveled back home from whence we came! Big Sis extracted a promise that next weekend we will ride a train. DSO and I are determined to enjoy these simple tastes while they last - its certainly cheaper than flying to Paris!
magic of childhood, public transport, trams
