Profound thoughts from my daughter

Every once and a while (alright, usually everyday), I marvel at how simple, pure, and wonderful life is through my daughter's eyes. Here are some of Ilya's rules:

1) Everyone is a friend

When we go to the fountain or playground to play, Ilya constantly looks for other little people. Once she spots such a person, she immediately stops doing whatever she was doing, walks up to this person and attempts to hold his or her hand. Words are not necessary. Sometimes they are exchanged, but usually they simply hold hands and continue to play together. It doesn't always work - most kids are not as nice as Ilya...which leads us to:

2) If someone doesn't want to hold hands, simply look for someone else who does

Eventually, she will find some nice child who is as enamored of holding hands as she is. This is accompanied by huge smiles and, "Mama, she's holding my hand!"Holding hands and playing is not always the easiest thing to do. Sometimes there are stumbles.

3) When you fall, get a kiss, then keep playing

My daughter doesn't cry when she falls. She doesn't collapse into a pool of misery. She walks over to me (usually with her new friend in tow) and calmly asks for a kiss. Once she has received said kiss, she continues with the play.

4) Question everything

When I was tucking Ilya into bed last night, she looked at me and asked, "why do we dream?" I almost cried.

5) When you are sick, nothing helps as much as a cuddle

Ilya was sick yesterday with a fever. The only thing that she wanted all day long was for me to hold her. Best sick day ever.