Renee Moilanen: Take time to enjoy the child-like pleasures of life

By RENEE MOILANEN | renee.moilanen@gmail.com | DAILY BREEZE

PUBLISHED: December 6, 2019 at 11:06 a.m. | UPDATED: December 6, 2019 at 11:07 a.m.

Grown-ups of earth, we have a lot of work to do.

That’s according to the many school-age children who’ve been writing advice letters to adults for a book that, once published, will raise funds for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “Dear Grown-Ups of Earth” is the brainchild of Manhattan Beach mom Melissa Heckscher, who so far has collected more than 100 child-scrawled letters and is aiming for 500.

On its face, the effort is designed to turn the tables, to let children give advice to adults for a change. And certainly, there’s a lot of predictable advice – don’t smoke, don’t do drugs, don’t ruin the planet – the sort of guidance we adults impart liberally on our kids parroted back to us.

If the advice ended there, we’d feel pretty good about ourselves. But it doesn’t.

Instead, the letters shine a light on how far we adults have strayed from the simplest childhood pleasures, how, through our children’s eyes, we’ve become harried, workaholic, hypocritic killjoys in desperate need of a reset.

“I think you’ve forgotten how to be silly,” wrote 7-year-old Max, who then followed up with the tip, “say words like netenonmeshetz,” which sent my adult brain scrambling for a definition until I realized it was just a fun collection of sounds. And that’s the point.

The letters highlight things we already know and loathe about our adult selves. We don’t laugh enough. We don’t tell enough jokes. We tell our kids to stay off screens while slavishly monitoring our own phones. We work too much and don’t spend enough time with our families.

But these pint-sized writers don’t let us off the hook. I’m the first one to blame my lameness on the realities of adulthood – after all, someone needs to earn money and pay the bills – but those excuses don’t go far when given advice like this: “It’s OK to lick the bole (sic) after something good that was in that bole (sic). Yuum!” wrote 7-year-old Gianna.

Gianna’s right. I’ve always envied how my children eat cupcakes – face first, their chins smeared in chocolate, their nostrils ringed with frosting, an expression of indulgence my adult self would never consider. But why not? I may not be able to quit my job (although quite a few kids gave that advice, too), but couldn’t I lick the bowl?

Or this advice: “You should make slime, color, tell funny jokes and swing really high.”

I remember that feeling as a child of cutting through the air on the swings, faster and faster, higher and higher, reaching for the sun. Even in my creaky old adult body, it would make me smile. Maybe even laugh. Why don’t I do it?

And then there were the kids who put their advice into terms an adult could understand:

“1. Go to the hot springs.

2. Go to the spa.

3. If someone needs help, help them.

4. Don’t cut down trees.

5. If something is hard, just try your best.”

But this might be favorite, written by 9-year-old Coast, who recognizes the weight of adulthood but offers an occasional out: “You should just say to your boss on the phone that you’re visiting your family in Texas because of a funeral but instead go to Disneyland.”

Such beautifully simple advice inspired me. After reading through the letters (which you can do at grownupsofearth.com), I slapped on a fake mustache and surprised my 5-year-old with an impromptu impression of Luigi. We laughed, acted silly. Made funny sounds and ran around the house. Totally not adulting. And he loved it.

For that moment, I swung really high.

Renee Moilanen is a freelance writer based in Redondo Beach. Her column publishes in print every other Saturday.