Magic

Yesterday when I picked him up, my six-year-old son's first words were, "I saw a real princess today!" That of course made me smile. I get such a kick out of him and his view of the world! Often, when he is watching a DVD, he will turn to me and very seriously say, "That can't happen. They did that with a computer just for the film." This is usually at the scarier parts, so I recognize that he is reassuring himself. But otherwise, he is perfectly willing to believe what he sees. Like yesterday, when they were taken to see a play, he saw a real princess.

I think it is so important for children to believe in magic, the tooth fairy, the Easter Bunny and, in my family's case, God. It is a real challenge every year to get the Christmas tree up and the presents under it without the children realizing that it was all my doing. (My daughter has caught on, but she has agreed to keep the magic alive for her two little brothers.) Our tradition holds that it isn't Santa who brings the presents. It is the Baby Jesus who brings them as symbols of his gift of Love. (Saint Nicholas comes a little earlier, on December 6th, to put chocolates and oranges in their boots.)

Nowadays, when children have questions, such as about where babies come from, we tend to pull a book off the shelf and explain human anatomy to them, so that we are honest with them, as modern parents should be. I don't quite agree with this. I think there is great value in believing in miracles. Children are happy to get a toonie for their teeth, or to clean their boots and put them in the window for Saint Nicholas. It is a way for them to keep the wonder about the world that increasingly is too informative and makes them grow up too soon.

Don't get me wrong. I am all about explaining photosynthesis to children when we are hiking in the woods. I explain about not picking the wildflowers in a park because they are protected. I talk to them about not littering, about pollution and conservation. But I know they also get a kick out of pretending that the trees that grow in perfect rows are bewitched soldiers, of that elves live in the hollows of trees. It develops their imagination to play this way, and it also helps them be brave, and to move into situations where they might imagine that it would be scary, but they move forward nonetheless. My daughter was afraid of the Easter Bunny for years. She would come get me before going out into the living room to see if there was an Easter basket there for her. I would accompany her and, over the years, she eventually started walking in front of me instead of behind. Finally, she was able to go look on her own. I can see this self-assurance in her today, and wonder if it isn't thanks to the Easter Bunny. :o)