Kids often get ridiculed for a lot of silly reasons and I thought I should reverse that trend, just for a bit, and write a little tribute to children, teens, tweens, tots and those adorable, and at times, freaks of nature, we all know and love.

I must give credit where credit is due and have devised a list of questions which will accentuate the finer points of having a munchkin sharing our living spaces.

Rather than using he/she, his/her and all that jazz, I’m going to simply use the word “she.” Perhaps it’s just my way of pretending since I have a son but, nonetheless, I shall utilize the feminine version.

OK, as far as my list of kid friendly questions, I shall begin with this one. Who else can come to the rescue and answer your challenge of changing the batteries, in some new and exciting recently purchased gadget, whilst, at the same time, rolling her eyes so violently that muscle spasms are sure to occur?

What other members of society can program the channels on a new television with ease while the “grown ups” gaze in disbelief while they clench clumps of their own hair in tight fists?

What other person in the family can exclaim, after you have dropped $150 at the market, that there is nothing to eat in the house?

On the same note of food, who else gets actually frustrated when she has to shuffle things about in the freezer, or the refrigerator, in order to discover some kind of life-supporting sustenance?

What other member of the human race can be surrounded by laptop computers, XBoxes, MP3 players, televisions, DVD players, stereos and musical instruments, to name a few, and state, in a depressed fashion, that she is bored or simply cannot find a thing to do?

Who else has roamed the Earth for less than a quarter century and yet, is absolutely positive that she is more knowledgeable, on a wide range of subjects, than you? Not only but, there is no arguing the point. This small person standing before you is indeed the knower, the sage, the soothsayer and, quite possibly, in her own mind, the master of the universe.

What other member of society at large, and even at small, can virtually dwell in her own room from the age of 12 until 18, only making guest appearances for the above-mentioned raiding of the fridge after a shopping spree?

What kinds of individuals insist on emulating the Japanese when it comes to walking 10 paces, or in some cases 40 feet, in front of her parents at the grocery store? God forbid could she be seen with--GASP, her mother! Oh, the shame of it all.

Who else, but offspring, tends to become exceptionally well behaved right around the end of November? Hmm...

Then again, who else in life demands nothing more than a mother’s cuddling action when she is feeling poorly?

What other members of the human race spark the survival and protective instincts in us with such fervor?

Who else, but a little one, can fill the heart with pure warmth and delight simply by placing her tender, pudgy hand in yours to cross the street?

So, all in all, I guess it’s pretty darn wonderful to share breathing space with the youngsters in our lives. Time with them seems to zoom by. One day they are reaching for your hand, and the next, they are avoiding you like the plague and refusing to associate with you at all costs whilst in a public setting.

But, what kind of universe would we have without all of the above mentioned scenarios? It would be a heck of a lot more peaceful and might even be cheaper in the long run but, then again, what would we discuss? What would we cram in the picture compartments of our wallets? Not only but, here is the most important point and will serve as my closing: What on Earth would my topic have been this week without those fabulous yard apes we call children?