My daughter has loved and believed in magic her whole life & I wouldn’t change it for anything!! She has always enjoyed the magic of a jolly, fat man bringing good will and gifts to cheer children. She has had a family of fairies that she has fed chocolate brownies on mini tea sets. We have made fairy houses since she was little. We have had every magical holiday possible, even our very own, made up holiday on May 1st that we celebrate as “Fairy day.” Her childhood has been full of magic, whimsy and wonder.
So, a few of her younger cousins have adored my daughter’s whimsical fairy land & always watch and wonder as she tells them imaginative stories of magic. My daughter loves to nurture the wonder and magic in her tiny cousins. It is so fun!!
So, a couple of these tiny cousins (who are under the age of 10) have wished and made their own fairy houses in hopes of having their own piece of magic. Well, I happened to find a couple of the same fairies that my daughter has on Amazon for a crazy low price, so I told my daughter that maybe we should surprise her little cousins & leave them on their door step with a special fairy note. My daughter was SO excited and knew the little girls would LOVE it!! We put our plan into action, ordered them & then went about delivering them.
It was SO FUN!! One of her tiny cousins parents were going on an overnighter, so we were invited to come over for the evening and play. We knew this would fit very well into our fairy delivery. We went and played for a couple of hours, I snuck out of their house & grabbed the fairy from my car & left it on their porch. About an hour later the kids were all walking out the front door to go on and walk & what did they find???
A special fairy box with a note addressed to the two youngest little girls. They were SO excited & instantly began trying to figure out where to put the fairy, how to make her bed…it was a flurry of excitement. Even the young boys in the family began talking about making a ladder and hammock out of sticks and leaves. It turned into a creative spring of JOY for everyone!! It was so fun. Their little imaginations ran wild with excitement. It went on for hours…special lighting, a special rock for food, an acorn trail…It was so fun!!
The next day when the parents arrived home to hear all about the new arrival, their Dad told them he didn’t believe in fairies.
I heard this and my heart sank. I felt so bad.
So, my question is this. Who nurtures imagination and creativity? Children are naturally creative and have an imagination, but if adults so easily squash the magic, the whimsy, the imagination—what happens?
I think we have a role as parents to encourage creative play, to foster their imagination, to ‘play along’ to help them develop their own stories, to write their own endings & not have the ‘adult’ come in and squash the child dreams or the childlike wonder that seeks to find its voice. That is my opinion.
I think this video (below) perfectly illustrates the child vs the adult perspective. Perspectives change, so let our children be little, let them dream, let them imagine having mermaid tails or shark mouths. Let them be little. Let them create their world of their youth, because the world will take it away soon enough. If we don’t nurture their childhood, who will?
I LOVE this video. Enjoy.
Nurture their dreams, put them to bed with stories of wonder, give them gifts that delight in magic. Childhood is too short, so let them be dreamers, creators and let us help them explore their imaginations.
This is also a great video on this topic. Love it!!
Here is another article on ways to nurture your child’s imagination https://www.bubhub.com.au/hubbub-blog/5-simple-ways-to-nurture-your-childs-imagination/
Have a beautiful day. -H
Oh how I LOVE great stories, motivating videos, inspiring quotes, so today I am sharing nothing but GREAT STUFF!! Enjoy.
I have always loved this quote because it is so true. I am still waiting for the feeling of confusion to turn to clarity, but every experience is what you turn it into. I pray we can turn this into an even better vision for tomorrow.
You can always find so many things you are grateful for right now!! Since my husband has been gone he has mentioned a few of the ‘comforts of home’ he misses. It may sound funny, but he missed the cheese & bread we usually buy. He misses going to our local gas station & buying his favorite soda. He misses our shower, because now he showers in either a KOA shower (used by numerous people) or his tiny RV stall (which is 3 x 3). I am not complaining. We are extremely grateful for the RV. We are by no means destitute or living on the street, but I know this experience will help us learn a few things about ourselves, our relationship and all that we take for granted. Think of some things you take for granted & are grateful for. LIST THEM.
I am grateful to have my little family, even though we are apart. Separation truly does make the heart grow fonder. (I have learned that!). I am grateful to breathe, to smile, to walk, to smell fresh air, to take warm showers, to see the beautiful, blue sky, to hug my daughter, to talk on a phone, to have my parents still close, to have a home, to have a job, to have clean water, to live in freedom, to have a healthy body that can move, to walk through forests, to feel the sunlight upon my face, to play with my dog, to dream, to create, to write, to have an abundance of food, to hear my dog bark (haha–he is crazy), to see butterflies, to see the change in light outside, to…there are so many things if we take a moment to notice. What are you grateful for? Think about it.
I don’t know about you, but I have been a constant life learner. I have always been in ah of how the seasons change, wondered why ocean fish swim in circles as if a secret rhythm was singing to them or listened to crickets harmonize at night in a rhythmic pattern no one can dismiss. Nature is full of wondrous surprises and patterns that make us all find connections.
THE BLUE BUTTERFLY
A MIRACLE ON ITS OWN
My daughter has been going to a summer camp this week at our local aquarium. She has been learning from all sorts of people–some love to scuba-dive, some love ‘cats’, some train the parrots, one guy loves toads and another guy LOVES coral.
yourhappyplaceblog 