Anyone who has a child, or has worked in the child care field, knows that when a child finds something that they like, they can't get enough of it. I'm the victim of that particular situation.
One of my darling girls is infatuated with "Miss Mary Mack", which she insists that we do every day. As soon as I walked into the room yesterday, she grabbed my hand and dragged me and her raggedy stuffed elephant to a chair. I obediently sat and put her and Ellie the elephant on my lap, and we began to sing the monotonous rhyme. Well, I did. She piped in with the words she could remember.
Soon, we had a few of our other pint-sized friends surrounding us, singing along about Miss Mary Mack with her fancy silver buttons bribing the fence-jumping elephant with "hay and peanut tea" so that he would "come and stay with me". Yeah, and take up her back yard and cause her mother all sorts of problems with the city officials, because who knows how much a permit for hosting a wild animal of those proportions would cost. Is it even legal?
But in the end, who cares? Elephant ends ups with "shiny rows, rows, rows, of silver buttons, buttons, buttons, down his nose, nose, nose " and gets to jump the fence whenever he darn well pleases. Non-domestic animal permits be damned! Oh, bummer. I've gone and ruined the ending for you now.
Truth be told, my first reaction when the bright-eyed cutie grabbed my hand and demanded the repetitious ditty, was a heart-felt groan. Oh, no, not again, was my burdened thought. But as I sat there surrounded by the kids, every one sing-songing along, something happened. I realized how blessed I am.
With minimal effort from me, I got to see five tiny faces light up with joy as they remembered more and more of the words, did their own dances and giggle over the crazy antics of Mary and her pet elephant. I felt privileged to be a part of their experience, to be able to remember what real innocence is. To remember what fun is all about and how easy it is to have it.
Its true what they say. Children are miracles. And sometimes, they work miracles too.
One of my darling girls is infatuated with "Miss Mary Mack", which she insists that we do every day. As soon as I walked into the room yesterday, she grabbed my hand and dragged me and her raggedy stuffed elephant to a chair. I obediently sat and put her and Ellie the elephant on my lap, and we began to sing the monotonous rhyme. Well, I did. She piped in with the words she could remember.
Soon, we had a few of our other pint-sized friends surrounding us, singing along about Miss Mary Mack with her fancy silver buttons bribing the fence-jumping elephant with "hay and peanut tea" so that he would "come and stay with me". Yeah, and take up her back yard and cause her mother all sorts of problems with the city officials, because who knows how much a permit for hosting a wild animal of those proportions would cost. Is it even legal?
But in the end, who cares? Elephant ends ups with "shiny rows, rows, rows, of silver buttons, buttons, buttons, down his nose, nose, nose " and gets to jump the fence whenever he darn well pleases. Non-domestic animal permits be damned! Oh, bummer. I've gone and ruined the ending for you now.
Truth be told, my first reaction when the bright-eyed cutie grabbed my hand and demanded the repetitious ditty, was a heart-felt groan. Oh, no, not again, was my burdened thought. But as I sat there surrounded by the kids, every one sing-songing along, something happened. I realized how blessed I am.
With minimal effort from me, I got to see five tiny faces light up with joy as they remembered more and more of the words, did their own dances and giggle over the crazy antics of Mary and her pet elephant. I felt privileged to be a part of their experience, to be able to remember what real innocence is. To remember what fun is all about and how easy it is to have it.
Its true what they say. Children are miracles. And sometimes, they work miracles too.
1 comment:
How touching and eloquent! I love it.
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