3 Reasons to Eat Ice Cream with a Kid

What started out as a typical "Daddy/Son Date" of just us guys going out for ice cream turned into a transformative experience of sorts. One that would encourage me to recap some of the magic we shared here. So, go ahead, schedule time with a niece, a nephew, a son, or a daughter and eat ice cream together and bask in newfound enlightenment (quick disclaimer: it helps if you know the kid you're eating ice cream with and it's infinitely less creepy that way too).

(1) PATIENCE: I'm not sure who is slower at eating ice cream...my 5-year-old or my late, great grandma Helen. Both s-l-o-w-l-y lick (not bite, not eat...lick) their spoon, little-by-little to the point where by the time my cup is gone my little dude is just 3 bites in. Patience. This is the kind of "stop and taste the ice cream...really TASTE the ice cream" patience our society needs in our collective lives now more than ever. As an adult I admittedly have had a handful of "ice cream dinners" to myself because why the hell not? We can do that. As a kid, they don't know when the next time they're going to be able to savor such a sweet treat and awesome experience so they take their time with every moment.

(2) PERSPECTIVE: You're not out just for ice cream with a kid. You're out for a one-of-a-kind, almost anything goes conversation. You're out to answer questions, contemplate the unknown (to them), and realign your adult perspective with a little kid who is still discovering the nuances of their big world. We got into some deep, philosophical discussions—topics ranging from when/why Batman will die to how his sister is his best friend in the whole wide world. After taking the time to be patient with what we treat as a seemingly quick experience, perspective kicks in hard and you are forced to get out of your head space, out of meeting rooms and conferences, and have real talk with a real little (and easily influenced) human who has real questions to ask.

(3) PURE IMAGINATION: I've been fortunate enough to help clients and nonprofits solve problems with creativity for more than 12 years now. But there's still something completely fresh about the imagination and wonder of a child. The same imagination that can quickly transform their napkin (after being asked to wipe their mouth for the 5th time) into a ninja mask of defiance. Along your journey of gaining new perspective the inevitability of pure imagination will kick in. The little notices things you don't see anymore, they think about things differently than you're trained to. And it's beautiful. It's nostalgic. It takes you back to a more carefree time and place where everything can be anything. You can see the wheels turning and the belief that ordinary objects are much more extraordinary things with a new purpose and function.

So go on, leave your phone at home—the meetings, Slack messages, and projects can all wait. Share 30-minutes with a special kiddo in your life; a 30-minutes that will feel like an hour (or longer) in a good way to recharge and relearn basic patience, experience a new perspective, and immerse yourself in pure imagination all thanks to a cup of ice cream.

"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams." —Willy Wonka