Saturday, January 16, 2010

Magic and Wonder

I have an 8 by 10 photo of the boys sitting on Santa's knee that I keep up year round.

The picture isn't great. Just one of those department store photos. The boy's have messy hair, terrible smiles. There were no retakes, no special lenses or multiple poses to choose from. And yet, I display it prominently in my house, changing it yearly.

Why? Because of what it represents to me. Magic. The magic and wonder of childhood.

Matthew is now 7 and Ryan will be 6 very soon. Everything they do and see is full of energy and enthusiasm that is absolutely contagious. Whether it is playing in the snow, digging in the sandbox, going for a hike or seeing Santa at the mall, they see the world as a magical wonderland.

We only have a few more years of this pure magic before it is gone. We get so caught up in getting chores done, getting schoolwork done, running errands. We have to remember to stop and enjoy the magic and wonder of the world.

To me, that photo is my window to that magic, even if it is just a glimpse.

5 comments:

Allie said...

Beautiful and do true!!!

Sue said...

LOVE this post ... such a great reminder of what's right in front of us, but what we busy moms are so often blind to. I can't tell you HOW many times this past week Grace has literally tugged on my shirt and said, "Mommy, can you PLEASE play with me?!" And I hate to confess how many times I replied with, "Not now, honey, I've got _____ to take care of." Just fill in the blank, time and again ... And each time I missed a magical moment with my little girl.

I just hope and pray that one of these days I'll get it -- before those opportunities are gone. Thanks for the beautiful reminder! I think we moms need to hold each other accountable every once in a while. :)

Jennifer said...

Wonderful post Jo-Ann!

Mama J. said...

So sweet and true! We get so caught up in the details of life that sometimes we forget to enjoy the journey... kids are an amazing reminder of that.

"The Leengrams" said...

Thank you for telling us about Mathew's tenotomy and how it helped him with his brace. It came at a VERY good time! We scheduled a tenotomy for Mike this coming Tuesday. We hope that when his casts come off - the brace will be more tolerable!

Thanks again for sharing - it really was a big help!