We had the opportunity recently to inadvenrtantly crash a childrens birthday party. It was a warm summer evening and we had just finished a nice dinner near a great park. It was 8 pm and we were far from home but how can you pass by a nice park on a warm evening. Australia is full of sensible people so when we got to the playground we found that it was teeming with children and their adults. There was one particularly big festive group of folks who were making use of the barbecue grills and picnic tables right beside the playground to celebrate a child's birthday. As is generally the case here it was quite a decadent barbie with half a dozen different meats, bowls overflowing with different salads, homemade bakes, chips and a healthy variety of cakes and sweets. And while we joined the festivities a bit late there had obviously been a pinata as there were about twenty children and each child held a cupful of lollies that they were consuming as quickly as they could before their parents realized what was going on. And what happened next I blame on the pinata as these children were obviously giddy on more than just happiness for summertime and birthday parties.
I was delegated 'swing parent' (in a completely literal sense) and stood in one place pushing Tova endlessly on the swing. Another little girls whose mother was busy mingling was happy to have me adopt her into my role. And while I was pushing the two girls I got to observe the gang of a dozen six year olds. They were all yelping and skipping around a tree when one of the girls called out "we are doing a tutti nuddi!" I had no idea what this meant but she looked very happy. And then the girls all went behind the tree and started giggling and ripping off much of their clothing and flinging them to the ground. And they let out a whoop of joy and started running. And then the boys who were just standing around saw the gaggle of girls running naked and their eyes lit up. I thought they would strip down also but instead they began running after the girls with glee in their eyes! And so I learned that what makes girls happy is to be naked and free and what makes boys happy is to run after naked girls.
The girls ran into the playground and started frolicking around it in joy, shrieking if the boys got too close. And I patiently waited for the boys to catch up to the girls because I really wanted to know what would happen. Why did these six year old boys know and want to chase after naked girls? But then it was a bit sad for me as little boys seem to know that they like naked girls but they really don't know what to do with a naked girl and grabbed at their arms or pushed them to the ground. The naked girls didn't like this violence. It really disturbed their naked glee. Though they did seem to enjoy the chasing bit and so after being caught a few times exited the playground and began running farther and wider so the boys couldn't catch them. The boys kept chasing them. The girls kept running. It really didn't seem to get old. The hip parents all watched with mild interest.
And then I got distracted with my swing kids and when I looked up the girls were running across the park. The boys were still in hot pursuit of something that was unattainable and unknown. And they just kept going farther and farther away until they were little dots on the horizon. One of the hip parents noticed and began running to get them and about fifteen minutes later they were running back. Still running joyously naked. Still in hot pursuit. And they kept doing this around trees and it was mesmerizing. Did they learn this from adults or is it innate? Sadly, it was getting dark and the hip parents made the girls get dressed and everyone walked away somber faced but with memories of naked glee in their eyes.
I was delegated 'swing parent' (in a completely literal sense) and stood in one place pushing Tova endlessly on the swing. Another little girls whose mother was busy mingling was happy to have me adopt her into my role. And while I was pushing the two girls I got to observe the gang of a dozen six year olds. They were all yelping and skipping around a tree when one of the girls called out "we are doing a tutti nuddi!" I had no idea what this meant but she looked very happy. And then the girls all went behind the tree and started giggling and ripping off much of their clothing and flinging them to the ground. And they let out a whoop of joy and started running. And then the boys who were just standing around saw the gaggle of girls running naked and their eyes lit up. I thought they would strip down also but instead they began running after the girls with glee in their eyes! And so I learned that what makes girls happy is to be naked and free and what makes boys happy is to run after naked girls.
The girls ran into the playground and started frolicking around it in joy, shrieking if the boys got too close. And I patiently waited for the boys to catch up to the girls because I really wanted to know what would happen. Why did these six year old boys know and want to chase after naked girls? But then it was a bit sad for me as little boys seem to know that they like naked girls but they really don't know what to do with a naked girl and grabbed at their arms or pushed them to the ground. The naked girls didn't like this violence. It really disturbed their naked glee. Though they did seem to enjoy the chasing bit and so after being caught a few times exited the playground and began running farther and wider so the boys couldn't catch them. The boys kept chasing them. The girls kept running. It really didn't seem to get old. The hip parents all watched with mild interest.
And then I got distracted with my swing kids and when I looked up the girls were running across the park. The boys were still in hot pursuit of something that was unattainable and unknown. And they just kept going farther and farther away until they were little dots on the horizon. One of the hip parents noticed and began running to get them and about fifteen minutes later they were running back. Still running joyously naked. Still in hot pursuit. And they kept doing this around trees and it was mesmerizing. Did they learn this from adults or is it innate? Sadly, it was getting dark and the hip parents made the girls get dressed and everyone walked away somber faced but with memories of naked glee in their eyes.
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| Jakob remained fully dressed |
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