19 Elul: Brand New World by Shana Hausman

I’ve spent a lot more time with kittens than with human children. I realized this when I held my infant niece and found myself slow-blinking at her like a cat would. She’s two now, still as playful as a kitten, and I still sometimes have to remind myself that she can understand language and I can simply tell her things. 

But there are similarities. Kittens and babies both struggle to move at first, wiggling on the floor and crying for their mamas. Humans are born with their eyes open, but with so much to see and take in, they may as well have their eyes sealed shut like a kitten’s for all they can make out. Kittens learn to walk faster, but babies have hands and can open doors and containers. Both are liable to put things that aren’t food in their mouths. 

And both are coming across a brand new world that’s so big and so fresh and holds so much mystery. Both show such wonder at every new discovery, and I come to appreciate it all the more through their eyes.

This is where spending time with my niece has continued to awe me. Whether she’s splashing around and watching the water as she learns fluid dynamics, discovering the delights of measuring volume with a shovel, a bucket, and some sand, or learning physics the hard way when she runs, trips, and discovers gravity, everything is so new. We made playdough together (I did the cooking–thermodynamics is best studied with supervision!) and I watched her delight as the mixture turned pink from the food coloring and then solidified into a squishy mass. She already had playdough from the store, but there’s something so satisfying about playdough you make yourself–and not just that we could make it in her favorite color. 

A few days ago I spent time with week-old kittens. At that age, they haven’t discovered much. But reflected in those wrinkled faces and slivers of eyes just starting to open, I can see the whole world, and before long, they’ll be running and jumping and learning as enthusiastically as my niece.