When we arrived to playgroup that day we were all asked to wait outside until all our friends arrived. Our play group leader was busy inside preparing the surprise festivities for the children. We all anxiously awaited outside with a special food we brought to share in celebrtion of the shortest day/longet night of the year. Lachlan and I brought our favourite pumpkin pie; an American tradition, usually made for Thanksgiving. It was the perfect food for us to bring as it represented a part of our american culture. The pie was also made from one of our garden pumpkins which Lachlan and I have been tending to all autumn, weekly inspecting them to see how much they had grown.
When we were finally allowed to enter the building, the children were asked to walk in silently. The room was dark, except for a few candles that glowed around the room. The room was decorated as a night sky with stars on the walls and a spiral made from tree branches and leaves on the ground. In the middle stood a tall candle with a flickering flame. All the children were silent as thye walked in. Lachlan was the last to enter and as he saw the lovely display he let out this loud, "Whooooaaa!" which broke the silence. He was so excited to see the candles glowing, he couldn't contain himself. I think everything must have looked so magical to him. He and I sat down with his baby sister and watched as each of his friends one by one took their lanterns from a table and walked around the spiral to the lit candle. We all sang a special song as they did so. When it was Lachlan's turn he was so excited. He seemed so grown up, holding his little lantern so delicatley and making the softest steps through the spiral. When he reached the little flame his teacher lit his lantern and he smiled; his face lit up as much as his lantern.
Later our teacher told us a beautiful story about two children who walked through the night with their lantern and found a crystal cave. There a gnome gave them a bag of seeds and magical crystals. The teacher then gave each of the children a little sachet with special treasures inside. I tucked it away for Lachlan to open at home.
The next day (today), I could tell that Lachlan needed a lot of my attention. He had been a little bit clingy the last few days and seemed a bit jealous of his sister. Today I decided that I would give him my undivided attention the whole morning. No phone, computer or housework- it could all wait. My little man needed me. He needed me to be present with him. The last few weeks had been busy for our family and although I'm always with him everyday, I'm not always "present." My mind has been elsewhere thinking about work, family and close friends who have been ill. I'm certain Lachlan picked up on this; so now the day was about just him and me and Noelle tagged along like the good sister she is, sleeping most of the time.
Today was a gorgeous day. I had to spend this day with Lachlan outside, the sun was calling us to come out and play and we obeyed eagerly. In the garage I found a bucket of landscaping pebbles which I had been digging out of our garden for the last year. I brought them up to our front porch, hoping to entice Lachlan. I took out about 6 rocks and began to make a half circle. Lachlan was intrigued and began taking rocks and adding to the ones I put on the ground. I sat back and watched where he'd go with it. He was amazing! He kept adding pebble next to pebble and before I knew it, he had made a beautiful spiral. Just like the one from our winter festival! He then began to branch off of the spiral, stopping for a moment and then saying, "Mommy, it's a 'Q!" and indeed it was. It looked just like the letter Q. Lachlan continued to add to his creation and by the end he had a lovely pebble design on our porch. We went inside and got a little gnome his teacher had given him a few months ago for his brithday and also grabbed a little toy puppy dog. "Let's take these guys on an adventure, shall we?" "Oh, yes!" Lachlan replied and off we went, setting out on what would be a magical adventure. I was the gnome and Lachlan was the puppy (of course!) We hoppd along the pebbles and Lachlan suggested that we follow the path through the spiral. We went back and forth playing with our characters and having a lot of fun. I then realised that I had Lachlan's little sachet from playgroup that he hadn't opened yet. I ran inside and brought it out, placing it on one end of the pebble path. "Look, treasure!" Our little gnome and puppy discovered the treasure and Lachlan untied the string to unveil the surprise. From inside a bunch of tiny stars, seeds and precious stones fell out. Lachlan was amazed. He especially loved the tiny stones. He picked each one up with his small fingers and added them to the end of the path. Next, he had the puppy eat the seeds.
It had been awhile since I had really sat and enjoyed Lachlan use his imagination, uninfluenced by me. He has really been absorbed into trains the last year and for months that has been all he'll play with. I was eager to see him branch back out into other creative modes. The pebbles did the trick I guess. I love watching Lachlan work. Everything he does serves a purpose. You can see it in his face as his eyes concentrate so intently.His hands and fingers always move with such precision. You can tell that his mind already has something mapped out and they follow his lead like it has been rehearsed a hundred times. If Lachlan accidently drops or bumps something in the process, frustration will be released. He doesn't like anything to disturb the process and seems to want the image in his head to be replicated perfectly. These are the moments when I know it is my role to step back an let him create. When we wants to involve me he will. My cue is generally a "your turn, mommy!" or "next one, please!" And when it is my turn, I just pray I do what is expected of me! If not, we have a grumpy gus on our hands!
After lunch, Lachlan asked to go right back outside and play with his magical pebbles, as we call them now. We continued to role play. He even had the idea of using the string from the sachet as a snake, which he slithered through the pebbles and up a tree which we made with a stick. I could have played all day to tell you the truth. We had so much fun!
Later we took a break and went for a walk to the park. The day was still gorgeous and the sun felt wonderful on our faces. However, the sun began to sink lower and lower behind the trees as the afternoon grew shorter. We ran around the open playing field chasing each other and chasing our dog, Maxwell. On one end of the park is a steep ravine. He stood at the edge and looked down. From the ravine grew tall gum trees which the leafy tops where at our eye level. As we admired them, we noticed our shadows dancing in the leaves. We waved, jumped, danced and giggled as our shadows followed our lead. We then ran up a hill and rolled down, something I hadn't done in a long time! Lachlan laughed as we stood up, shaking all the grass off our clothes and out of our hair. The sun began to hide even more behind the trees and I knew that was our signal to head home. Neither of us wanted the day to end. We had so much fun. It was a spontaneous, special day just for us. I wanted to breathe it in as long as I could: breathe in the smell of the fresh cut grass, the sound of the fairy wrens singing in the distance and the youth of my son; so innocent and beautiful. I wanted all moments to be like this one and I hoped that he would remember this moment in years to come. I know he most likey won't, but I will treasure it in my heart for the both of us.
We walked home, ate dinner, lit his special lantern and I read him his books and tucked him into bed. As always, I prayed for angels to watch over him and to keep him safe until the morning light. I blew out the candle in his lantern and kissed his forehead. I could see his lips curl up in a smile as he closed his eyes and I thought, I'm the luckiest mommy in the world; my precious, sweet boy.
So our magical day is done, but tomorow will be a new one. One where I will remember to be not just physically present with my children, but emotionally and spiritually. When we do this an amazing thing happens; we can be children again! We can see things the way our children do, the way we used to before we got all grown up and sucked into the hustle and bustle of life.So go today and "be present" with your child. I hope something magical happens. xx
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