Gratitude Practice 2020 Day 195: A Handful (and headful) of Fairy Treasures
"Hey Mom, can you hold this for me?" Our girl is deep into imaginary play these days and we are nothing if not discerning collectors. I am asked almost daily to hold, gather and organize little bits of this and tiny amounts of that as SK continues to explore the world. Lots of rocks. Lots of tiny flowers and blossoms and seeds and pods and berries. Lots of tiny little things to examine and all of which are stored first in my open hand and then placed in the long term storage of my pockets. Ever so curious. Ever so imaginative. And together we are amassing such a delightful collection.
Earlier this week, once her school day and my work day ended, we found ourselves once again playing in our favorite nearby mountain stream. Both of our female souls restored and refreshed as we walked up and down the cool shallow water. That night we played the role of brave protectors of a small community of powerful river fairies...of course we did....
Always thinking ahead, SK began collecting tiny items we would need for our epic adventure as soon as we exited the car and continued to collect things until we returned to the car a few hours later. My role in these adventures, beyond driving and securing ice cream at the end, is to simply follow her lead, engage in her spontaneous wonderland and hold the stuff she gathers along the way. This trip was extra dramatic and exciting and our brave little storyteller was delighted to find a few bright green river reeds that she was convinced was actually... "bamboo". After telling me all about the properties of "bamboo" she was absolutely amazed at her physical strength and ability to break this "bamboo" into small sections that were clearly meant to be tiny spears for the mighty fairy army….and on….and on...and on. Perhaps my favorite part was her insistence that we both secure a few tiny spears in our hair…"you know for safe keeping"...and because, "Mom, sometimes the bad guys do a surprise attack and we want to be prepared"
Grateful for the magic of this time. Grateful for the many novels that lay dormant inside her tiny soul. Grateful to escape the very real realities of grown up life and join her inside the amazing worlds she creates. Grateful for the ability and the time we have to explore this quiet mountain stream together. Grateful she now feels a sense of familiarity and ownership of this open space. Grateful to have fallen asleep that night knowing that inside all of the pulsing shortcomings, the numerous missteps and the long list unaccomplished tasks associated to a really rotten week of adult-ing there were a few really real, really good and really meaningful moments with my kid at the river. Equally grateful to find a dried up "bamboo" fairy spear carefully tucked into my messy high pony the next morning…because you know what...this exhausted overwhelmed mama takes her assignment of fairy spear hider very seriously. Grateful for her attention to the tiny details. Grateful for her invitation to keep safe hold of her growing collection. Grateful that through all of these little adventures my tiny girl is simultaneously filling up both my pockets and my heart with all of the big and little things she is collecting along the way.
