Won’t somebody please think of the children?

Today’s fun fact is that scientists have determined that the age when children start becoming less cute is four. This is because what we find cute is the large eyes and small noses, and four is when their faces start getting bigger while their eyes stay the same size, and their noses actually get bigger faster than their faces. So basically, kids become less cute when they start looking less like anime characters. It has nothing to do with discovering that they can drive you crazy merely by asking “Why” after every single thing you say.

Obviously I did not capture everything I have thought or felt in the writing in yesterday’s post. Actually, I wrote six more pages after I posted, so it wouldn’t have even been possible. When I was writing the post though, I pointed out that the two scenes that I was writing about both came from people trying to comfort Latron.

Latron is only 17, and even though he is being treated like an adult, he is really a kid, and so it makes sense that he will take some things harder, and that the others will look out for him, and that got me thinking about how children become so important in the narrative.

Again, this starts with the album. Not only do the Killjoys get themselves killed to rescue the Kid, but there is imagey in the songs “Na Na Na” and “Sing” that reference children, so it was there. It ends up being important in the story not just because of Grace, but with other children too. That’s why you need to fight, and why you sacrifice yourself, but also why not everyone can sacrifice themselves, but someone has to stay alive to take care of the children.

Initially it felt kind of ironic that I was going in this direction, because really, I don’t have a lot to do with children. I don’t have children, I don’t have nieces or nephews, and even though a lot of my friends have children, when we get together it is child-free, because I may care about their children, but they see their kids all the time, and look forward to the break. They see me to escape.

It’s not that I don’t like children, but I don’t feel like I am particularly good with them. I’m good with babies. They curl up on me like lizards on a hot rock, and they make little baby grunts in their sleep, and yes sometimes there are nasty fluids and smells and even solids involved, but there are cloths and wipes for that and you just deal with it. Past that age, I lose my touch.

First they start being able to wander around, and intoxicated with the novelty of controlling their limbs, and the freedom that it brings, all they want to do is go back and forth over the same stretch of ground, and they have no use for me.

After that they start talking, which should give us some common ground, but I find that they tend to communicate in high-pitched squeals that I can’t understand, and trying to get them to repeat it just makes things worse, especially with the shy ones. Plus, they older they get the more likely they are to start swarming in herds, and nothing good comes of that.

Finally, just as they start speaking intelligibly and learning the rules for socially acceptable behavior, they turn into surly teenagers with chips on their shoulders who could not possibly want to have anything to do with an unrelated adult who could easily act as the embodiment of exactly how disappointing adulthood can be.

Really, I am not good with children. That being said, I really care about them.

I guess I have been more aware of this recently. After a long time in the singles ward, hardly ever seeing children, now I have been in the regular ward for over two years, with lots of children.

Initially you just notice that some kids are really cute, and some are big showoffs, and some could really use some discipline. Add time to that, and there are all these other things, like noticing that a girl is so friendly and loving, but in an awkward phase, and suddenly she’s not awkward anymore. Boys who were really nerdy have gotten taller and fuller, and with the one, with his sense of humor, I could see that he was not going to stay that geeky, but yeah, now it has happened. With the little kids growth spurts happen, and maybe you suddenly doubt that you have the ages right, because the two youngest boys are now bigger than the third youngest, and catching up on the older ones, but how did that happen?

And somehow what I find in all of this is that I care deeply, and I feel protective, and that when I worry about the state of the world in general, a lot of it does come down to the children, even though I know I care about adults, and I’m actually capable of talking to them.

I remember reading something several years ago, and I could not even tell you what hot spot of the world it involved, because there have been so many with prolonged warfare, but there was a concern because the children were growing up with no happy memories. They had never known a time of peace and safety, and it was messing with their development.

I think of that, and then I think of this music video that Westboro Baptist Church put out, God Hates the World (set to the tune of “We are the World” /irony). After a big group chorus it ended with a little girl singing the refrain alone. My initial thought was that it was a tragedy to have this cute little girl being taught like that before she could know any better, but then the nagging thought was that she wasn’t actually that cute. Honestly, she looked a little inbred, which does not seem impossible considering her affiliation, but maybe she was just older than four.

So there’s that, and all the local stories of child abuse and neglect, and neglected education, and all I can say is let’s not do that. They are developing. They are learning how to be. They need support. If you need to ruffle feathers or risk embarassment and report child abuse, do it. If some people who are not the best workers or parents are getting government benefits and it keeps their kids from starving, be grateful that there’s something in place. Fund schools, and health care, and community safety, and things that will give kids a chance. Give something beautiful a chance to grow. They really are the future.

I am weird and awkward, but even I know that.