Using toothpicks for pick-up-sticks ice cream licks and playing tricks Diminutive minds with little hearts Hitching rides in shopping carts Playing games with neighbor kids Calling names and safety lids Down the street and at the park Food that's sweet and fear of dark Cookie jars with trespassing hands Playing cars, shooting rubber bands Thinks, learns, and pretends Taking turns, imaginary friends Developing souls with minor flaws Cereal bowls and Santa Claus Baby bottles and little eyedropper-sized tears Kid role models and influential peers Learning to talk with their first set of teeth Learning to walk, elders with knowledge to bequeath Telling time, first learning numbers Nursery rhymes to induce slumber A Heaven-sent stage with not as much strife As will be present later in life
Email: rwainio@nmu.edu