Naivete

As I was leaving work last week, a preschooler came barreling down the hallway, bursting with excitement. He jumped to where I was, blocking me from the exit.
"Miss Jackie, Miss Jackie- guess what?"
"What, Mason?"
"I get to go and get my kindergarten shots today," he said with a huge, almost toothless grin. The way he said kindergarten was my first indication that this kid has been seriously misinformed.
"Oh," I said. "Are you nervous?"
The most sincere expression of confusion flashed across his little face, "Why would I be nervous?"
I looked at his mom, whose expression screamed "If you tell him I will kill you with my mind," and told him to have fun and gave him a hug for good luck. Then I watched him skip to their car and hop into the back seat.
Poor kid.
It made me think of that naivete that all kids have, and that all adults secretly long for. Sooner or later in the process of growing up, we all turn into cynical world-weary and wholly un-trusting individuals and if you are like me, you long for those blinders that I dropped somewhere between kindergarten and 22. Ignorance really is bliss sometimes.
So, next time you read a news story about another murder, or someone/something betrays you, take a note from the preschool playbook: just put the emphasis on a different word.