We all started out in the same way. As babies. But what would it be like to go back?

Imagine being a baby.

I’ve thought about this a few times, while watching my grands navigate their way through this world. I imagine myself in their tiny tottering shoes — or bodies, so to speak.

And I realize, with what I know now, it wouldn’t be easy to be a baby again. The dust bunnies themselves could prove formidable.

But beyond that, living a toddler-sized life on an adult-sized planet might be frustrating. And intimidating. Overwhelming. And scary.

Babies are helpless, powerless, weak and vulnerable. The routine of their days revolves around being hungry, sleepy and wet.

It could be a poopy time of life, and it is, but it isn’t. Because babies are born optimists. For them, it comes naturally — both pooping and optimism. The glass and the diaper are both half full, so to speak.

They allow us to pick them up, trusting that we won’t drop them on the floor.

They cry, hoping we will answer their call.

They smile, knowing their charm, while young and new, is one of their best assets.

They coo and laugh and when we coo and laugh back at them, they coo and laugh some more.

They wrap their tiny hands around our finger, understanding that human connections are something to hang onto.

We introduce new foods and they open their mouths to accept the green beans because they trust us.

We dress them each day, and they don’t give a thought the idea they might be too cold or too hot.

They naturally give eye contact because it the best way to connect with others. 

They imitate our vocalizations because it seems important, and they want to be like us.

They imitate us in general, because they realize it is what they need to do to fit in and learn the ways of the world.

They reach their arms out to us, because they trust we will pick them up.

We strap them into a carseat. It’s uncomfortable, but they trust that we know what we are doing and where we are going (even though this often isn’t the case).

When they are learning to talk their first words are often “dada” and “mama” because they need those people the most. 

When they learn to walk, they take their first steps toward us. Reaching out for our protective hug. For our clapping hands and for our approval.

In some ways, for me, the whole walking analogy correlates to the rest of life. Babies learn to walk, reaching their arms toward you, and then soon, they learn they can balance on their own and they turn away to walk and run, and skip and hop all on their own.

In some ways, as soon as they learn to walk, they begin walking away.

And that is exactly how it is meant to be.

We are gifted with babies. They are born helpless and hapless. In the best of circumstances, they learn they can count on others.

They learn to trust in us.

And then they learn to walk and run and to trust in themselves. 

They grow up and grow away and is what you wanted and what you dreaded all in the same sentence.  

It doesn’t end there. Because babies go from being helpless and hapless to being self-sufficient and secure and then they have babies of their own. And when your babies have babies?

That, my friends, is what it is all about.

Insider fact: it’s pretty amazing.

— Jill Pertler’s column Slices of Life appears regularly in the Times. She can be reached at slicescolumn@gmail.com.