Today I was happy.
I made a happy face out of playdough with my nephew.
Although this is a very normal activity between kids and adults, today it was special. My nephew is about 2.5, and so he’s still in that phase where he’s learning some of the basics of life. Like we might ask how many eyes he has, and he’ll say “two!” Or we might ask where his belly is, and he’ll lift up his shirt and stick out his stomach.
However, he doesn’t always get the answer right. For example, I might ask him what he had for dinner and his reply would be “pizza” with a lot of enthusiasm! It’s cute, except he gives this answer even when he had quesadillas, chicken nuggets, or anything else.
If there wasn’t an adult there to correct him, his confidence and excitement is convincing enough to believe anything he says.
Back to the playdough.
We were rolling and smashing each color one by one when he asked me to make a happy face. I of course obliged, being the loving Auntie Han that I am, and began to sculpt two blue eyes, just like his. He looked confused, and again said, “Make a happy face” at which point I realized there’s more than one way to make a happy face. So instead, I began flattening one piece of playdough to draw eyes in, more like a pancake than the sculpted face I was envisioning.
In classic Auntie Han fashion, I asked my nephew for his input; equal parts co-creation and a learning opportunity for him. I asked, “What does a happy face look like?” expecting him to reply with features: two eyes, a nose, and a smile.
Instead, he looked at me full of joy and said, “It’s happy!”
He didn’t mention any features. He didn’t care if the eyes were sculpted from blue playdough or drawn into my purple playdough pancake. The only way he knew how to identify it was happy.
I remembered the timeless truth I’m sure I once knew as a child, too–sometimes the simplest things are the best.
A happy face looks happy. So did my nephew. And so was I.
