if we were all to go through life with the same approach as the kinders of the world,, we’d never spend a minute of our day thinking about diet and exercise and stress, for there would be absolutely no need to. 

       during the school year, most of my waking hours are spent with these little people, where i learn from them daily, and i never cease to be amazed by their honest and natural way of doing things.  i’ve come to the conclusion that if adults were to go through their days in the same way, we would all be a lot happier and healthier.

 

following are the unwritten rules of the kinders’ approach:

1) never walk anywhere when you can skip, jump, scoot, or run to get there

2) when greeting someone you like and haven’t seen for at least ten minutes, feel free to jump on them and roll

3) eat small amounts of food, and eat often

4) if you’re eating something you like and you drop it, just pick it up and finish it, or give to it a pet if you want to

5) if you’re not able to sit still for very long when eating, see if you can take one last bite of it away with you in your mouth or hands, chances are it will fall out somewhere not too far away

6) drink water every 7 minutes, even if it comes from inside an old toy, the cat’s bowl, a snow pile, or a puddle

7) when asked to sit somewhere, sit in at least 3 other spots first, before moving there

8) run up the stairs whenever possible, to make sure you get to the top before everyone else

9) sleep when your body gets tired, napping most anywhere and anytime

10) laugh, cry, scream, or shriek whenever the mood strikes you

11) tell everyone around you when you are happy, sad, scared, or mad, without any filter

12) don’t worry about what anyone thinks

13) play with lots of people

14) ask as many questions as it takes, until you understand something

15) hug people or blankets or stuffed toys when you want to

16) if you are afraid or don’t want to do something, pretend you are allergic to it

17) move in slow motion or like a robot when going somewhere you don’t want to

18) don’t play with people who aren’t nice to you

19) gather around in a circle to see what happened when someone falls down

20) climb anything you can find, especially when playing the ‘don’t touch the floor game’ in your living room

21) try to catch butterflies, moths, flies and birds and chase them until your legs get tired

22) take a close look at stuff that you think is cool or beautiful 

23) ‘read’ and tell stories to your pet

23) wake up excited for every day