Kids These Days

            Surely by now everyone on the planet has heard of the song “Let It Go” from Disney’s Frozen. For some, the song is an absolute curse. But for many, the song is heaven on Earth.

            Back in the classroom, the latter is always the case. In fact, it seems like none of my female Jumpstart friends can let go of “Let It Go.” I hear it as a greeting, as a goodbye, and everything in between. Last week for instance, I was sitting in the Art Center when I heard one girl suddenly burst into song:

            “Let it go! Let it go!” she piped as she glued a red square on her sheet of white paper.

            It didn’t take long for her friend to join her.

            “Can’t hold it back anymore!” she chimed, as she added a blue circle to her friend’s collage.

            I sat back and watched them, wholly entranced by their song. It amazed me how accurately they could recite the lyric and keep in rhythm with the song’s cadence. To be honest, I was so blown away by their performance that, when they asked me to join them, I felt inadequate. Which is funny, because, truth be told, I can sing; I love to sing. But these girls were simply something else. At the delicate age of four, they knew this song backwards and forwards. I, on the other hand, had to mumble my way through most of it, until the chorus allowed me to regain my footing.

            After we finally had our fill of Disney’s “Let It Go,” the girls started singing the soundtrack from “The Little Mermaid”...then “The Lion King”…then “Mulan.” Each time they finished one song I felt like holding up a card with the number ten on it like they do in “Dancing With The Stars.” I’m pretty sure my jaw dropped when they pronounced “reprimand” perfectly from Ariel’s “Part of Your World.”

            It suddenly occurred to me that only in Jumpstart would I be singing songs from classic Disney soundtracks. We sang songs like there was no tomorrow while we made our art collages. It was cute to see the kids glue their shapes in beat with the music.

            But, more than anything, I loved the fact that they that could sing better than me. It’s mind-boggling to think that a couple of four-year-olds (four-year-olds!) could recite so many Disney songs with such finesse. Absolutely incredible.

Man oh man, kids these days. I swear.

           

Leila Nasser, Team Curiosity