Today I had a conversation with a 5-year-old. Or more accurately, she decided to have a conversation with me. After I amazed her with my ability to guess that she was in kindergarten when she told me her age, we started to get to know one another. She demonstrated her ability to spell her name and thought it would be fun if we clapped out the syllables together. She was right.
Then she told me in wide-eyed amazement the story of how three wolves at a wildlife refuge came right up to the fence where she stood, her all-I-want-for-Christmas-is-my-two-front-teeth smile transforming momentarily into a look of intensity. I told her she was brave and she agreed. I asked her about going to the zoo to see chimpanzees and was going to tell her that one time one of them came right up to the glass where I stood and kissed it, but she was already telling me about how great her leopard-print tights were and showed me a small figurine of a leopard to prove to me she knows what a real one looks like. She went on to say that her birthday is after Christmas, a day or a month, she was not sure. All she knows is that she wants a cake with elephants on it.
We moved on from there to other important matters such as the fact that she was ditching the Cinderella costume she wore last Halloween in favor of becoming Tinkerbell this year. This story is her favorite anyway, she pointed out, and besides, there will be wings! She can then take on this new persona, having a certain amount of dramatic flair already as evidenced by her sparkly sequined hat and Hello Kitty shirt, while she goes out for a night on the town collecting treats.
I met a 5-year-old boy about a month ago who confided that though he looked and acted like a regular boy, he was actually a garden fairy, who came alive when pixie dust had been sprinkled in the general vicinity of where he had emerged. I guess he figured since we were going to be friends, it was appropriate to let me in on his true identity. This fascination with an alter ego of an other-worldly being intrigues me.
I wonder if there is inherent in each one of us a desire to not only be connected with the supernatural but to actually BE supernatural. That if we clap our hands and believe in something greater than ourselves, wonderful things WILL happen. I'm fairly certain that if I were to consult my 5-year-old friends on this issue they would skip happily away, with a look of joy on their sweet faces that would in essence say, "What are you waiting for?"
Then she told me in wide-eyed amazement the story of how three wolves at a wildlife refuge came right up to the fence where she stood, her all-I-want-for-Christmas-is-my-two-front-teeth smile transforming momentarily into a look of intensity. I told her she was brave and she agreed. I asked her about going to the zoo to see chimpanzees and was going to tell her that one time one of them came right up to the glass where I stood and kissed it, but she was already telling me about how great her leopard-print tights were and showed me a small figurine of a leopard to prove to me she knows what a real one looks like. She went on to say that her birthday is after Christmas, a day or a month, she was not sure. All she knows is that she wants a cake with elephants on it.
We moved on from there to other important matters such as the fact that she was ditching the Cinderella costume she wore last Halloween in favor of becoming Tinkerbell this year. This story is her favorite anyway, she pointed out, and besides, there will be wings! She can then take on this new persona, having a certain amount of dramatic flair already as evidenced by her sparkly sequined hat and Hello Kitty shirt, while she goes out for a night on the town collecting treats.
I met a 5-year-old boy about a month ago who confided that though he looked and acted like a regular boy, he was actually a garden fairy, who came alive when pixie dust had been sprinkled in the general vicinity of where he had emerged. I guess he figured since we were going to be friends, it was appropriate to let me in on his true identity. This fascination with an alter ego of an other-worldly being intrigues me.
I wonder if there is inherent in each one of us a desire to not only be connected with the supernatural but to actually BE supernatural. That if we clap our hands and believe in something greater than ourselves, wonderful things WILL happen. I'm fairly certain that if I were to consult my 5-year-old friends on this issue they would skip happily away, with a look of joy on their sweet faces that would in essence say, "What are you waiting for?"
LOVE this story. How beautiful and such a good reminder of who we are at our essence.
ReplyDeleteIt is kind of like when Dorothy is told she could go home all along. We need to remember how to get back to who we are. Kids are the best teachers.
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