Always the Last to Bed

When my daughter was maybe 5, she came up to me and said she watched a show (maybe Blues Clues or Backyardigans) and learned about Blue Prints and she wanted to know if they also had Pink Prints. Oh, you clever child! You feminist! Love it! Just like her Mama, I thought. Not so fast Mama…I did not create this. Read on.

As the years have gone by, both of my children, who are both Gen Z, have surprised, shocked, and awed me with joy about things that I know I didn’t teach them, things that come from within, things they were born to know and born to be. Things that their soul knew about. Ok, I should have warned you: super deep thoughts.

So here’s my theory: Gen Z was born to save the world. Yeah yeah this isn’t going to be a post about all the fantastic things my kids have done (although I could certainly blog all day about that!), nor is this post going to be about saving the environment or world peace. It’s about humanity. And it’s about how these kids THINK.

My first example is of my eleven year old daughter. Every day I take her to school and drop her off around the same spot on the street. It just so happens to be the same spot used by many other parents apparently because a well worn patch of grass and a puddle greets her as she steps out of the car. In the winter, the puddle is frozen over, and in the spring the puddle is a giant puddle, and sometimes throughout the year it’s a mud puddle (Ohio). One day I said oh wow honey I’m so sorry I just noticed the puddle is huge today and you’re gonna have to jump over it! She got out of the car, jumped right over the puddle and turned to me and said “it’s ok Mom! Me and this puddle are best friends. We’re going to go all 4 seasons together!” And she walked off to school.

I drove away thinking, wow. Number 1, she already knew about the puddle and had obviously been thinking about it many times before when I dropped her off and SAID NOTHING. And 2, she already had the skills to get beyond it. This just made me tear up. I was proud of her. Seems silly, but we all know that other kids (and adults) might have easily insisted that I pull up beyond the puddle, complained and cried all about how the puddle is always there, or also silently cursed the puddle and cursed their parent for doing this to them and forcing them into this situation.

She didn’t dwell on it, and actually made a joke of it. She didn’t push her frustration onto me. She rose above it. She did what she had to do. Without coaching. And shes 11! And we all know 11 yr olds can be cranky tweens! I’m not certain where this skill came from, but I was really proud of her actions.

Another example is my oldest daughter who was in preschool. One day her preschool teacher shared with me that she was very empathetic. She was 3 yrs old at the time. A three year old that’s empathetic?! She said that every time another child would cry, my daughter would take them her lovey and offer it to them. It was so sweet and a sign that she recognized their sadness and pain and wanted to help. This also made my eyes well up. And be proud. Where did this come from?? How could she be so selfless and be willing to give up her most prized possession? It really astounded me. If you tried to take her lovey “ba-ba” away from her at home, there would be hell to pay! This child really had a strong personality and giving mindset from the start. I’m not so sure that we could have coached her or taught her this by the age of three.

These are just a few examples and I won’t bore you with the rest. But they’re examples of this innate survival ability, perspective and perseverance that not everyone has. I’ve often heard from teachers that “these kids are different”, “these kids are different but in a fantastic way”…this is from teachers who have seen many kids pass through their doorways through the years. They see what these kids are capable of.

This is my point- the capacity. These kids were built for something different. They can roll with the punches in a pandemic, they can hold your hand while you take your dog to the ER, and they certainly know how to create virtual world in Minecraft, partner with someone else to get a Victory Royale in Fortnight, and do what needs to be done to win, survive and thrive. They inspire me.

It is said that the Greatest Generation was born to step up, to save their country, lead by example. Could this be coming full circle and Gen Z be the new world leaders? But in a different way. To save us from ourselves, do things differently and have an open mind when approaching problems.

If you’re a parent, aunt, uncle, grandparent, teacher, stop and observe these kids. Observe how they think, process problems and assess how to solve them. Ask them what they think about today’s complex problems. They just might surprise and inspire you!