You know how sometimes, once you do something, you kind of forget about it? Many of us have watched the ABC's Old Peoples Home for 4 Year Olds recently. It's been something of a revelation for society in general, but i'm lucky enough to witness this kind of thing at least once a week, when the local pre- schoolers come and visit the residents where I work.
Then, this morning, I spotted a lovely post on Instagram,by my peeps the 2020 Comeback Crew celebrating my first picture book Lucas and Jack illustrated by award winning artist Andrew McLean ( know, lucked out there, right?!) and I remembered, that this book was inspired by the sight of a young relative of one of our residents, waiting outside for his Mum to finish visiting.The first line of the book is
"Waiting is boring."
It came out in 2014 and to this day and even for 2020, remains on the NSW Premiers Reading Challenge List (albeit with an incorrect illustrator's name!) something I'm thrilled and grateful for.
The Instagram post referred to "The magic of intergenrational relationships", and it almost made me tear up. All the emotion and excitement that went into it's pages returned, with the added bonus of knowing how much people have loved it and used it as a way of connecting with their younger relatives through sharing stories.
Yeah, I know, I know! I'm always banging on about sharing stories. But honestly, it's the bees knees for starting a dialogue between people, especially when they think they are too different to ever have anything at all in common. Because do you know what the secret of THIS story is?
Every. single. human. being. was. young. once.
Yep, and there you have it - the thing we ALL have in common. Our differences make us interesting and unique, but our samenesses make us connected. How can you hate or ignore someone who was a kid, just like you? And, as the TV show has shown, it's possible to tap into that 'kid' part of ourselves,with it's lust for life and joy and curiosity, even when we think it's long gone. This is the magic of intergenerational relationships, don't you think? Rekindling the curiosity and wonder and enthusiasm we just naturally experienced as kids...
Anyway, this Instagram post made my morning, took me on a little journey down memory lane , and inspired me to share this part of my story with you. If you're interested in checking out the teachers notes for Lucas and Jack, you can find them here.
Talk to you soon,
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