A Heartwarming Dose of Childhood with Kimya Dawson

As a little tike, I went to the family-run daycare center Kids at Play, also known as Maria and Jeepie’s house.

It was a house of kindness and manners, love and sharing, creativity and imagination, exploration, fun, silliness, play and learning. Sometimes we had our shirt on inside out or our shorts backwards, and if an adult in the world commented on it, they’d let that adult know it was a means of our expression. If we put our shoes on the wrong feet, the sentiment was “Hey, you tied your own shoes for the first time and that’s something to be proud of!” as we then waddled away. And sometimes finger painting on the designated paper just wasn’t quite enough, so Maria would let me take it to the walls. (Jeepie wasn’t too thrilled with this but Maria insisted, "she’s creating!") They supported us and helped us grow.

Going to Kids at Play was the best decision my mom could have made, and did make, for me and my childhood. This wasn’t just where I spent my days; it became home. Maria, Jeepie and Kimya weren’t just people who looked after me during the day; they became family.

Molly, Kimya and me at Kids At Play | A previous recording of "Fire," which was one of my favorite songs she played that night.

Last month, Kimya was back in New York playing a show in Brooklyn. It was amazing seeing her again, spending some time together and watching her play. She shared some stories of me as a kid - about how kind, silly and funny I was, and how I was always down for an adventure. Also about how I was a sensitive kid. I still am. In recent times, some people have taken advantage of that or misunderstood it to be some kind of shortcoming. It’s not. It’s one of my gifts and thank you Kimya for reminding me of that. Thanks for asking the real questions and for rubbing my head. Thanks for being there. 

xxChris