Parenting | Embrace the Magic
by Kirsten Nilsen, posted on January 17th, 2013 in Parenting
Le Ballon rouge (Albert Lamorisse, 1956)
In December, I talked a bit about magic. In December we all want to Believe. As parents, we are almost as willing to suspend disbelief as our kids are. But something about this idea of it being a ‘holiday thing’ struck a wrong note with me.
Belief in magic doesn’t guarantee that too-expensive toys will turn up under the tree. Magic is not the sole property of parents who have the disposable income to make catalog-fueled holiday dreams come true.
Magic is nothing that can be bought.
What is it that we’re talking about, this magic? In our days of parenting, it is that which allows us to laugh, to stop short, to marvel. It is in the alchemy of mud puddles and tadpoles and buckets that turn into Bio Lab Central. It’s in the soaring arc of starlings as they startle from a tree — a knobby growing-too-fast wrist bone tracing their path. It’s in the mysterious light that seems to glow around a big sister reading to a younger sibling, angular chin against chubby preschool cheek. It’s in the whirlwind of an eight year old rushing outside after school with his own Real Tools, totally focused on building a clubhouse that he & his dad sketched on paper.
Magic is the mom who throws her hands in the air in the middle of homework and says, That’s it, everyone. DANCE PARTY!!!!! Magic is the dad who lies on his belly, patiently learning the intricacies of Pokemon, secure in the knowledge he will never know what the heck it all means. Magic is parents who kiss in front of the kids, parents who do all the voices in a story, and parents who hold weeping kids in their arms when the home team loses the game.
Magic is a home where your child is allowed paper, pens, and tape in [almost] unlimited quantities. Magic is a home where the forts are allowed to stay up for the whole day. Magic is a home that has picnics on the floor, ice cream sundaes to celebrate group efforts, and a pile of muddy boots by the door. Magic is a home where traditions are invented, or re-invented, but held sacred.
Just as it is during the holidays, magic is allowing your child to believe that anything is possible, for as long as they can. Whether you are a household of scientists, of artists or police officers, you are the one who can create your own unique brand magic in your home.
Jennifer Cooper Says:
Jennifer I Says:
Kirsten Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 12:42 pm
Well not that I want to make people cry in the morning on a regular basis, but I’m so glad it touched a nerve. Because YES – here’s to magic & its transformative power in our families.
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