This Little Girl Doesn't GAF About Falling Down

When you have kids, you always feel the urge to leap up at the smallest scrape or fall, which often makes whatever issue our little monsters are facing even bigger than it was to begin with. What a lot of us don't realize, though, is how ridiculously resilient kids are. They aren't falling off their bike and immediately concerned about a concussion or internal bleeding. They don't run into a wall and wonder if their nose is broken. They're pretty dumb, is what I'm saying, OK? Which, sure, might get them killed if we weren't there to save their asses, but it also makes them experts at not sweating a few bumps along the way. Unlike us, their imaginations don't typically run wild with hundreds of irrational worries that all somehow involve their untimely demise.

Perfect example: When the little girl in this video decided to try out the slide by herself, she was totally confident in her sliding abilities. She's all, "I got this, guys."

What a lovable doof! Instead of making a smooth landing though, she kind of tumbles down the thing and slid to the ground. But instead of instantly letting out a wail to make you want your ears to shrivel up inside of her head, she jumps up with pride at having accomplished her goal. Did she, in fact, slide? No, not really. Did she let out any frustrated expletives? No, but we kind of wish she had. But as a kid, her natural optimism sprang into effect and she went on her merry way. She's a star, she's on top, somebody bring her some haaaaammmm!

As parents, we are almost constantly worried about the safety of our kids, regardless of how big or small certain threats are; cars in the street or the corner of the coffee table. But as grown ups, we're also afraid for ourselves, of failure and rejection, or of making complete asses of ourselves in public. What this little girl (and pretty much any kid, for that matter) can teach us though, is that there is something good to be found in simply trying, even if it means that you fail. And kids in general have the right idea when it comes to not giving up.

Don't Be So Serious

While a certain level of a kid's silliness is pretty over the top — ahem, eating boogers and sticking their hands in some pretty f*cked up places — they still have the right idea. When you take yourself too seriously, you become too serious, and just like that, you're a boring, old adult who doesn't believe in your inherent awesomeness. Don't be afraid to be funny, regardless of how you might look to others. Don't kids look like they're having fun pretty much any time they're acting ridiculous? Maybe they're on to something.

Don't Be So Quick To Give Up

I'm pretty sure that if kids gave up on things as often as adults do, there would be no more need for schools, or trampolines or high dives. Pretty much everything fun wouldn't exist because we'd give up at the first whiff of being intimidated. I won't claim that kids have the best commitment skills of all time, or that no 10-year-old kid has ever given up little league baseball or piano lessons or whatever. But I will say that kids have this whole resilience thing down a lot better than adults. Maybe it's a feeling of invincibility, to a degree. But if that's the case, we could stand to get a little of that ourselves.

Find The Positive In Your Mistakes

Just like that badass little girl and her slide, you should be able to dust yourself off (figuratively or literally, depending on your life) and applaud yourself for at least trying. Even if you don't do exactly what you set out to do, there is still a certain amount of pride in the attempt. If a kid can figure that out, shouldn't we be able to?

Be Weird

Do I even really need to tell you to do this? The best things in life are not, in fact, free. But instead, they are the weird, silly, funny, and funky things. Whether it be movies, jokes, facial expressions, outfits, or strange food combinations, the best thing you can look for is the weirdness. Because it also means that it's unique. And I know I definitely don't want my kid running with a lame, non-weird squad, so the best thing I can do is lead by example, right? If Mama Bear is a funny weirdo, then there's a good chance of Baby Bear following in her footsteps. But if your kid wants to be the weirdo, let them, and be weird along with them. The worst thing you could do as an adult is to be fully ingrained in the sometimes pretty damn boring world of adulthood.

Images: Jon Eimer/YouTube; Giphy(2); Ashley Ringrose, Katie Weilbacher/Flickr