Children are born with mystical powers unknown to us. Airy fairy? Well maybe… or maybe not. From the very hour of their birth, their greatness begins. A special psychic force comes into play, helping these flickering lights to develop on their own. From this most mystical of moments, life calls on them to understand and adapt to our way of life, to build themselves up for all the demands imposed by our culture and the adult world. 

Fascinatingly, Nature seems to “safeguard” these tiny stars from the hard influence of adult reasoning, giving precedence to their inner teacher. By some mystical phenomenon, children are innately apt to build up their psyche, enabling them to function despite the surveillance and reason we grownups impose on their innocent spirit. 

Over a year ago, when I asked my 3 year old daughter who taught her the words to a song she heard from a movie, she responded in astonishment: “I did it!” Clearly, when they are well into their three years of age, they are little adults already, and able to manage themselves quite well in fact. We all talk about children being “sponges,” tirelessly and quickly absorbing culture all around them. We might reason that their spurts of mental growth are spontaneous, but there are workings going on within them that are outright fascinating to any adult. 

Educating children is not entirely something that is done at home or at school. It’s truly a natural process that happens from within them. It is the child’s individual activity that determines his or her development. In this sense, it is of no use that we view these infants as helpless, or as receptacles waiting to be filled with our knowledge and wisdom. Instead, it might be more fair to view them as beings with their own dignity and desire for us to acknowledge the intriguing ways in which they fill our own receptive minds. We could see them as guided by their own inner teacher, who strives indefatigably in joy and happiness, following a precisely timed program. As parents, we can only serve to give our opinion, help and encourage. We are but a humble, serving and awe-struck audience to their masterful minds and souls. 

These babes hold a light within and-–if we are not too distracted—we can witness them shine, quite literally. And if we are not too blind, we can actually watch as they guide us towards a brighter, more evolved future. 

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

—KHALIL GIBRAN, “ON CHILDREN”

If that doesn’t give you goosebumps, I don’t know what will.