Magic

Waiting and waiting...the baby is now four days late, which ties her with Child #4 for lateness. To pass the time, we have been watching and reading the Wizard of Oz series, the Harry Potter series, and the Lord of the Rings series. Child #3 has his first loose tooth, so now we are racing to see what comes out first: the baby or the tooth. We have all been pretty grumpy...which leads to the Top Weekend Story...

Child #3 decided over the weekend that he wanted to learn how to be a wizard and make some magic. He made that sword out of some sticks and duct tape and pretended to pull it out of the log he is standing on (the fence in the background is where we are re-seeding the lawn). He has been asking to do scientific experiments in the kitchen to make a magic potion. Now, I am super grumpy and I don't want to do any projects or anything that will create a mess. I just want to have a baby (which is ironic, because babies are the ultimate mess-makers). I also didn't want him to be disappointed with the results of his experiment, so I tried to warn him that we couldn't make magic potions. I tried to tell him that magic potions aren't real, they are just in stories. "There really isn't any such thing as magic," I told him.

But, being the great mother/teacher I am, I gave in and insisted that he follow the scientific method. But of course, he is only 5 1/2, so I actually asked him to write down what he wanted to mix and what he thought would happen. This took care of his handwriting and spelling practice for the day. What kind of magic potion did he want to create? "Something that will make moms show kids respect" was the mumbled answer which quickly changed to "Something that will turn things into cats." At this point I roped dear old science-loving dad into the process for some quality father/son time. Bless his heart, he was able to redirect Child #3's train of thought from one of magic potions to one of density and hydrophilic/hydrophobic properties. In simple terms, they mixed oil and water with red food coloring (with a little ketchup) and watched the layers separate. He was satisfied. Now we move on to what lesson was learned...

Later that afternoon, Child #3 came upstairs after spending some time with his older sister. He walked straight up to me and said, "Mom, you are wrong. Magic IS real. Santa is real. The tooth fairy is real. So, Magic is real!"

I was, and am, flabbergasted. I will no longer tell my children things are impossible just because I am grumpy. Lesson learned.

This is what a busy two year old looks like after doing puzzles, playing on the computer, riding bikes, digging holes, and running after her Pathetic Doberman in the backyard all day. Click on the picture to make it bigger; you can see all the dirt better.