The Fairy Of Making Things...

I have to say, that it's been an adjustment for all of us since Bennie and Ollie have started school, and how incredible it is to see how much they've grown in two weeks time.

Benjamin on the school slide 

Benjamin wouldn't even let go of my leg when we would drop him off to school, and he would cry everyday in the beginning, and now he will just go right into his classroom with a sweet smile and goodbye and he's set for the day.

Oliver keeps on smiling no matter what. It's so important to him to be good and follow the rules and make everyone happy. He really is trying so hard, and both of my boys are doing so well.

I think that I'm finally used to the silence and I'm not paranoid anymore that the phone will ring off the hook with a problem at school. So I'm glad to say that I'm more relaxed now when I am at home, and when I'm relaxed, I get ideas, and so I started Drama Group locally for Bridgetown. I don't know what I'm doing at all, but since I have so many eager volunteers, we'll see how this turns out. To my pleasant surprise, there seems to be a need and a thirst for some excitement in Bridgetown. So I'm going to cross my fingers and hope for the best. My optimism is at it's highest. I think we can do something great, and any money we make can go back to the community.

Michael on the other hand, has taken it on as his sole and blood oath mission to gut the house of all it's dust, and clutter. And not only is he tackling the house, he's going hard and steady at the shed, and throwing out things we don't need, or things that have just molded and have gotten old over time.

It never seizes to amaze me though, how much children can see the magic in ordinary things. Like for example, Olive brought home a pine tree branch he found on the sidewalk a few days ago when were walking home from school, and he said "Oh Mommy, look at this cool branch I found, we should decorate it like a christmas tree and put a gold star on top of it".

He also went into elaborate detail about how we should add jewel like ornaments to it, and other flashy things, which I told him very politely that we might have edit out. I told him that we'd work on it as soon as I wasn't working and had a day off. So on the weekend he reminded me again about the tree branch, and I tumbled through my messy craft room and found some pom-pom balls and some pipe cleaners.

I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out as I never seem to have enough hours or minutes in a day to be super creative, but I just did my best with what I had. I remember puffing under my breath saying nicely "Well I'll do my best Ollie, I'm not a fairy and can't make magic happen, but hopefully your tree will turn out just how you like it", to which Oliver replied ever so sweetly "But you are a fairy Mommy, you're a fairy of making things, and you can make beautiful things quickly."

Well I must say, that I stopped puffing under my breath in that moment and looked at Oliver with amazement. What deep insight my little five year old has. I never looked at myself this way, but there was truth to what he said, but as a mother and a parent, I never stop to think all the time about what I do most of the time or how it affects my child, or how my child sees things. Here I was beating myself up in a way because I didn't think I was doing a good job crafting this tree for my child, but it was more than good enough than for Oliver, and he recognized and appreciated all of my good intentions. I guess you could say that Oliver opened up my eyes and made me appreciate myself a bit more, and made me realize that if I can appreciate myself, that I can give so much more to both my children. Sometimes it's good to just turn off the "keep on going" switch and enjoy the moment for what it is.

How many times as a mother or parent have we made magic happen for our kids? We do this everyday out of love, and isn't that one of the main ingredient that kids need to grow and to be healthy and happy? I guess I can sort of crown myself the "Fairy Of Making Things" at home, and it's a title I'm proud of.

Benjamin playing with the christmas tree

My sweet boys after their bath on Sunday, sitting in front of the fire to keep warm

I keep on reminding myself on the days, especially when I'm tired and think my patience is running thin because I have a million things on the go, and both my little ones need my attention constantly, that they will never be this little forever. I will miss these days when they're still so small and sweet. I will miss these moments that we have together, and so will they, and that's why I'm doing my best now to make the magic of childhood twinkle on forever, long into their adult years. 

Oliver's sweet smile...