Sprinting Everywhere
First, think about how you feel when you first wake up in the morning. I know there are some of you alleged "early morning" people out there, but for those of you like me who only read newspapers in waiting rooms, consider this. The first thing I hear from my daughter's room in the morning is six quick footsteps to the door. She then runs out into the living room to see what is going on. A lot of times this is at seven in the morning. Imagine what your spouse or roommate would think if you suddenly got off the couch, ran full speed to the kitchen for an apple, and then sprinted back and leaped onto the couch, all with a straight face that says, "Why would I go anywhere any slower than the fastest I can possibly move?"
Screanging
Okay, so I made that word up. What I'm talking about is Scream Singing. I'm not talking about death metal screaming for attention. I'm talking about when kids sing at the top of their lungs out of the pure joy of singing. There is nothing I love more than listening to my daughter bang arbitrarily on her toy piano while she screams the lyrics to some song she is making up as she goes along. It's even better in the car when she is singing a song she kind of knows the words to. One of her favorite songs is the alphabet song.
A B C C M M M M P NEXT TIME SING WIIIIIITH MEAAAAAAAAYYYYY!
Sleeping Like a Bucket of Snow
It's true that newborns and 2 year olds sometimes have trouble going to sleep, and maybe even staying asleep. But once they're asleep, they may enter into an alternate universe. I know a guy that said he would wait until his kids went to sleep to cut their fingernails. It could be because they've been sprinting around everywhere all day, but even a nap in the car is like hibernating to a kid.
Talking to Inanimate Objects
I'm talking about more than carrying around baby dolls and asking them if they need a new diaper, though that certainly qualifies. Imagine what your co-workers would say if you dropped a stapler or a pair of pliers and then apologized to it. My daughter routinely says, "excuse me" to kitchen the cabinets and chairs and often informs her sippy cup that she'll, "be right back." It may be that I enjoy this only because of its humor, but nonetheless, it definitely qualifies as awesome.
If you already have kids, or at least a niece or nephew, then you already know how awesome this stuff is. If not, then that is just a short list of things that give a glimpse of how kids, besides being life changing and the greatest thing that ever really happens to you, are a heck of a lot of fun to have a round. And that's all I have to say about that.
