The Curiosity of Saliva

As I was leaving the mall last night, my husband turns to me and expresses his curiosity about something he had just witnessed.  A young girl of about 2 or 3 years of age was trailing along behind her parents passing the continuous storefront windows.  Most curious children will look into the windows and be bombarded by the visual stimuli.  Others will notice that they can see a faint reflection of themselves.  But this little girl had another idea in mind. At the jewellery store window, she unceremoniously began to spit on the glass that separated her from each piece of jewellery. Take a moment to appreciate this wonderful child pausing at intervals and spewing saliva at the glass.  I had to giggle at the rendition and reenacting of my husband of her curious behaviour. :)

The question my husband then posed was, "What do you think her intention was?"

I love to watch children and imagine what might be going through their little bodies as they explore and  discover their environment.  When we believe that motivation behind any action is pure, authentic and necessary for growth, the action then becomes curious instead of hurtful.

Motivation behind any action is pure, 

authentic and necessary for growth.

Children are innately curious. They will conduct experiments with everything at their disposal to continue to harness knowledge.  Every conclusion we make, sparks many more, so if curiosity is not broken somehow, it will continue to transport the child into an innovative adulthood.

And how do we break this natural cycle of curiosity and growth? Criticism, lack of acceptance, the deadly NO! Adults are well-meaning, but every stop, no, don't, can't are heard as stop exploring, no curiosity allowed, don't discover, I can't be me.

When something is part of Nature, nurture it for it has a reason.

Through constant exploration, we can hope to raise children who are confident of their abilities.  They will see themselves as successful and be encouraged to follow their calling in life, their innate talents, once they find them.  What hope does a child who is constantly reminded not to do things have in finding his true talent, what makes him truly happy?

So, I answered my husband. 

This child is experiencing life through all her senses.  She feels the saliva in her mouth, feels how her tongue moves as she gathers it, how it projects, how it sounds as it hits the glass, how it looks as it hits and then the moment after.  She observes the object on the other side of the glass through the saliva and questions "why?"We do not know now why she needs to do this, but if we accept that perhaps there is a bigger reason, she has increased her chances of fulfilling it.