A Childlike Imagination

When Joseph woke up this morning at 6:20am, I snuggled into his bed with him hoping we could both get another hour of sleep. An hour later, he woke up with his usual, "Let's get up now!" Sitting up in bed, with his thumbs pressed to the other fingers of each hand, he told me, "I have two kittens, Mom!" Oh, um, ok! Good dream or something?

It's been happening more and more recently. His little imagination runs wild and we jump to catch up, hoping our reaction looks like we understand what he's talking about.

The other day as we walked into church for Ash Wednesday Mass, Joseph was grasping a snowman and snowbear. I just knew he wouldn't be able to let go of this idea very quickly. And sure enough, as soon as he saw our priest, he announced, "I have a snowman and a snowbear!" The poor man didn't know what to say and didn't have a clue what Joseph was talking about.

Then today, at Mass time again, Joseph was carrying around a yellow balloon he'd taken from the big bunch of balloons in his Curious George book. Slowly, painfully, we transferred the balloon from one hand to the other while I helped him on with his mitten, then again from that hand back to the first.

Part of me wonders why on earth I do this. Why do I pretend that he really does have a "lello" balloon in his hand? Why do I go so far as to remove the balloon from his hand to put on a mitten?

Over and over again, we do the same thing with every book we read whenever there is a page with food or drinks on it: we take a little bite of the food and have a little drink. In the snowman book, we have a little hot chocolate and a cookie. In the Curious George book we eat ham, fish, potatoes, and all the other goodies off the feast table. Joseph loves it!

It brings me back to the days when I did the exact same thing. We made stew outside from dirty puddle water, leaves, and pine needles. We played Narnia with a secret entrance between two magical trees. I think of Anne of Green Gables and her famous "scope for the imagination." 

Life would lack a lot of its beauty if we had no imagination! Everyday, I'm delighted and awed by the imagination of a little 2 year old. He teaches me how to play again and how to enjoy the little things in life. And it makes me think how God wants us to be like little children. It takes a little imagination, along with faith, to think what Heaven must be like, or meditate on the Mysteries of the Rosary, or understand the communion of saints. For a little child, it's easy to understand and believe with real faith. No wonder, then, God wants us to be like little children. 

"Hullo!" in his best Wrinkles voice