The mind of a child...

 What I have found and observed, in particular with my beautiful nieces, is that maturity can actually be seen as a hamper to advice and can cloud judgments. The mind of a child is something that is complex yet entirely simple in its approach to problem solving and seeing the world. Someone gets hurt, you say sorry and move on almost immediately. Solutions are provided that are simple and effective. There is no illusions of race, equality, gender, wealth or status – nothing is externally based.

I am constantly at awe with the simplicity of the child mind, the ease in which a perceived complex problem is broken down into the fundamentals and a solution is provided. I must wonder if adults are the root cause of over complicating emotions, problems and avoiding solutions where egos are involved. 

The respect for a fellow child, another small human, is absolute. Everyone is equal. My niece asked me one day where Karl was and why she no longer sees him and taking a deep breath I told her that Karl and I had a fight and we are no longer friends – something in my eyes must have betrayed my true emotion as she quickly came up to me and told me that “everything is okay” in her beautiful voice, and told me that I must just say sorry and that I will not do it again and become friends again.

Is a simple apology not good enough, with a sincere assurance of not repeating the mistake?

The result of betrayal is the same in children, however it is not permanent - I have observed this with my nieces also. They will be angry at a friend who "he broke a promise" but it will only be for a short while and once the importance of the friendship becomes apparent forgiveness could be given once more but with the absolute assurance and understanding of the value of the friendship to never repeat a mistake.

I must believe that it is really that simple.