Anyone Got Chap Stick??

I was in my bathroom last night getting ready for a nice hot shower after a long grueling workout. I could hear my neighbor outside on her porch talking on her cell phone as I took my contacts out and got undressed. Suddenly, I heard her 5-year old sweet pea of a daughter come out to tell her mom that her lips hurt.

Poor sweet pea didn’t realize that the salty pretzels she had been eating were the reason why her lips hurt - so she just kept eating them. She also couldn’t understand that by licking her lips she was making them worse - but for lack of knowing what else to do, she continue to lick them.

Sweet pea: Mom my lips hurt especially when I get them wet

Mom: Well stop getting them wet... * pause *... Stop licking them!

Sweet pea: I can’tttt. They hurtttt.

Mom: Oh they don’t hurt that bad, girl.

Sweet pea: Yesss they dooo

Mom: I’ll get you some Chap Stick

Sweet pea: * crunch crunch *

Mom: STOP eating those pretzels!!

I giggled at that and got in the shower thinking about how simply complicated life is when one is five. Poor sweat pea’s problem was quite simple, yet all she knew was that her lips hurt, licking them hurt, and the pretzels were really good –

Adult = simple
Child = complex conundrum

As the hot water hit my face, I thought to myself that even though I’m not five anymore, I can still appreciate the simple things in life like a hot shower after a long day. That idea led me to think about the workout I had just endured and to remind myself to never again wear that particular thong during an hour and a half of kickboxing... And as I turned my back to the hot stream of water, I suddenly found myself in Sweat Pea’s shoes and thought YOWWW water really does hurt chapped spots!

And then realized that as much as it hurt, I couldn’t stop getting it wet.

Maybe life isn’t as different as we thought it was when we were five.