Using The Eyes Of Children

When was the last time a child helped you see something you'd overlooked?

I've lived in my current home for over 2 1/2 years. But until a few weeks ago, I'd failed to notice my backyard has an almost perfect climbing tree. It took the eagle eye of my nephew and his cousin to make the discovery. Within minutes, the three of us were up on it, daring each other to go higher. How did I miss this?

Though commenting on the innocence of children has almost become a cliche, I'm still betting my recent experience is not that unusual. When my daughter was growing up, a book I read suggested asking children "What did you see that was interesting today?" in place of the hackneyed "How was school?"  As I started using the suggested question with her, I also found myself paying more attention to the "interesting" things I saw. Common place sites like the vertical cages used in city parking lots became a wonderful way to enrich conversations with my daughter. I guess I stopped paying as much attention after she grew up.

I'll forgive myself for that. But I think it's time to revive that question with the younger members of my family. Who knows how much stuff, how many cool trees I'm missing?