The importance of a go-slow childhood

Allowing our children a childhood will better prepare them for being healthy, productive adults. But, more importantly, it will allow them to truly enjoy the innocence, fun and freedom that comes with being a kid.

Sliding down the hill on cardboard sleds.

Red, yellow and orange leaves flutter to the ground in the Adelaide Hills.

On a recent family outing to Mount Lofty Botanic Garden to enjoy nature’s autumn show, my two young children collected pine cones and acorns. Sticks became wands and swords and leaves became small boats on the big lake.

They flew down the steep grassy hill, cardboard sleds beneath them, wind in their hair, and that precious song of delighted laughter.

My husband and I sat cheering them on, laughing with them.

Sliding down the hill on cardboard sleds at the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden.

And I once again found myself taking a deep breath and wishing for the pause button.

“Blink and they’ll be adults with children of their own,” an elderly lady once said to me in the supermarket, staring down at my newborn baby.

He’s seven now. His sister is three.

And while some of the more testing days or sleepless nights seemed to last forever, I look back now and I can’t quite figure out how it has all gone so fast.

In today’s world of rushing, where the pace of living has sped up, there’s no avoiding the stress of adult worries, particularly when our children are being exposed to adult issues at younger and younger ages.

Kids are barely over playing dress-ups in mum’s heels, when they are slipping on their own.

The pressure for the “perfect” body has teens turning to Botox, breast augmentation and butt lifts before they have the chance to learn that these things don’t define you.

And all of it is being judged, picked and pulled apart on social media.

The recent national Youth Survey by Mission Australia interviewed a record 28,286 young people and identified mental health as the top issue.

It was the first time in 17 years of reporting that each state and territory named mental health as the top concern. And the other key personal concerns? Coping with stress, school problems and body image.

It’s frightening.

And it reiterates the importance of slowing down, of allowing kids to be kids.

Then, not only do they get to enjoy the wonder of childhood, but they have time to grow, to learn how to think, process information, understand who they are and what’s important, before being thrust into adulthood.

In other words, allowing our children a childhood will better prepare them for being healthy, productive adults.

But, more importantly, it will allow them to truly enjoy the innocence, fun and freedom that comes with being a kid.

To enjoy the pure joy of the wind in their hair as they fly down a grassy hill.

Because, really, it will be over in a blink.