The Wisdom of a Child

My 5- and 7-year-old neighbors came over to do a little bookbinding.

Each made an accordion-fold book complete with Cap'n Crunch cover. Mary wrote and drew in hers while Sam made a new book -- one of the more complicated 16-page or 8-page folds.

While her brother worked on his "puzzle" of an 8-page fold, I reminded them both that I wanted them to color and crease on top of the mat rather than the table. After all, I told them, the table is special: I designed it and my father made it from old pine salvaged from my great-grandfather's warehouse.

Without losing a beat, Mary looked at the nicks on her side of the table, and said, "It's already got scratches."I said, "Yes, it does. I don't want any new ones."

She said, "Why does it have scratches?"

I said, "Probably from my niece and nephew when they were little and from all my friends and family and from some of my work."

She said, "You don't need to worry about them."

I said, "Why?"

She said, "They remind you of all the happy times."

Out of the mouths of the babes, the saying goes, and the saying is right.