Ingredients

In the Ingredients by Jayson Reynolds, the author is trying to achieve the innocence of childhood. How I believe Reynolds is doing this is because throughout the whole short story, he never outright says anything about the boy's situation. We don't know much about their background much but from what we can conclude, they're not high-class. Such as when the narrator says, “They never shower. Never rinse or swap out wet clothes. Not because they have a problem with it-- locker rooms are something they're used to from years of gym class-- but because they come to the pool with no baggage. No duffels or backpacks.” and they also can’t don't have the ability to stop at a store and get their perfect sandwich after talking about it. As adults or young adults, we see these issues; some of us experience them, or know somebody who has. But to these children, they don't see it as an issue; they see it as a part of their lives, and they don't have an issue with it. When they come back to Flaco's house, he goes to the kitchen, “And then Flaco returns from the kitchen with four bowls, a box of cereal, and a half gallon of milk. ‘Don't worry,’ he says. ‘ I got sugar.’ ” Even though this isn’t the perfect after-pool snack, the boys still don’t seem to mind getting cereal; it isn’t the sandwiches they discuss, but with their innocence, they are content with just the cereal. By having the author demonstrate the innocence of childhood, it makes the story has a deeper meaning and could resonate with other people. 

How this compares to my life is that, as a child, my innocence kept me from the harsh reality of life. My days were filled with family, friends, playing with my toys, watching movies, and my biggest worry was what game my friends and I would play, or what I wanted for a snack. But one day, I grew up and suddenly all of my toys and games turnt into anxiety and stress, and my biggest worry is what tomorrow would bring or if I wasn’t enough. This is slightly different than the ingredients, of course, but these characters brought nostalgia about how life once was when I was young. When I would play with friends at recess and ask all the random small talk questions during lunch. It's nice to read about stories like this because it has shown how much I have matured. Younger Kiana would have never thought these kids weren’t high-class, or looked into the deeper meaning of it. She would just think about how fun it must be to go to the pool with your friends. I think it's nice that most kids (including myself) got to experience the innocence of being a kid.