Caidin has his final ‘share’ of the year at school today.

On their ‘share’ day, kids get to bring something into class that they want to share with their classmates. (It’s the new form of show-n-tell – same idea, different name, seems like less pressure.) What to bring in is always a big deal. Caidin has shared favorite books, a dead but completely intact cicada, which I have to admit was really cool, a baseball he caught at the Yankees/Tampa Bay season opener in Florida and he’s brought in his hermit crabs.

Today, he brought our parakeet ChaCha Blue. I stayed until Blue was all set-up and by the time he was, Caidin’s classmates were coming into the class room.

As I left, I turned to look at Caidin and he was beaming. His eyes were shining, he was smiling and I could see how happy he was to have Blue there with him in his class room.

It reminded me of a few years ago, well, five to be exact, when Chuck and I started looking at pre-schools for Caidin. In New York City, going to pre-school is somewhat like going to college. You tour the schools, you need to fill out an application and pay an application fee and then you wait to see if you ‘get in’. I remember one of the schools so clearly. It had a great reputation and everyone in the neighborhood always talked about how wonderful it was.

As we toured through the school my husband and I were looking at the kids, and we both noticed that the light was missing in all of their eyes. There was no joy or enthusiasm or happiness. We scratched that school off the list. One or two kids without inner light I might chalk-up to family dynamics, but all of the kids meant something was not ok at the school.

When we are conscious and observant, little kids are open books. Everything can be read in their eyes, on their face, in their body language. As kids get older, some learn to mask their emotions and carry themselves so that you can’t see what they are feeling. But the light in the eyes – that sparkle – can never been faked and its absence can never be hidden.

When we are little, we experience life with great joy and enthusiasm, until we are taught or told to experience it in some other way. I do feel that loving life and embracing inner joy can be fostered, honored and flamed. It can also be taken away.

When I see that light in Caidin’s eyes, it makes me happy because I know that he is happy inside. When Caidin’s school posts pictures of the kids, my comment is always ‘shinny, happy, people.’ I can see it in their eyes.

That inner light is fostered by allowing our true Spirit to shine through. When children are made to conform, or deny who they are, their light goes out.

Our job as Conscious Parents, Conscious Teachers and Conscious Care-Givers is to help our kids be who they are and to help them figure out how that person fits into the world they find themselves in.

As adults, if our inner light has gone out, we can reignite it. As long as we are breathing, that light is never out for good, because it is the light of our soul. It might be covered by your life experiences, by fear of living, or by negative thinking, but it is there, just waiting to be reignited and the best way to do that is to play like a kid!

So go run through the sprinkler, sit in the ocean and let the waves knock you over, play in the mud, jump on a trampoline, finger paint, or read a book of bad kid jokes…

I think that happy kids hold the true secret of life.

© 2012 Christine Agro

Christine Agro is a clairvoyant, naturopath, Master Herbalist, conscious mom and author of 50 Ways to Live Life Consciously as well as of The Conscious Living Wisdom Cards (Special Moms’ Edition). Christine is founder of The Conscious Mom’s Guide, a membership site where she helps support you on your own journey of living life consciously and on your journey of being a Conscious parent. You can also join Christine on Facebook. To contact Christine, to schedule an appointment with her or inquire about having Christine speak please email her.