Children’s perception of time is relatively understudied. Learning to see time through their eyes may be fundamental to a happier human experience.
My household is absorbed in debate over when time goes the fastest or slowest.
“Slowest in the car!” yells my son.
“Never!” replies my daughter. “I’m too busy for time to go slow, but maybe on weekends when we are on the sofa watching movies.”
There’s some consensus too; they both agree that the days after Christmas and their birthdays dawdle by gloomily as it dawns on them they have to wait another 365 days to celebrate once more. Years seem to drag on endlessly at their age.
No work, no bills, less responsibilities, minimal social pressure to be busy. Capitalism makes our experience of our lives shorter as well as the actual duration.