The Magic of Childhood

I love my children's imagination.  I love how they may only have one toy a piece, but will play for hours happily imagining everything else.  I love how they believe in Santa and the Easter Bunny, and the little elves that live in our garden.  It's so fun to watch them learn and discover.

My boys, being farm boys, get lots of hands on activities and experiences.  They are right there beside their dad working on things with him.  The "work" they do with their daddy ignites their imagination for their play time.  There are always combines, tractors and grain carts scattered across   my floors during harvest.  And toy cows loaded into trailers whenever we are hauling cattle.

Whenever we are at the farm or just in the back yard with dad, the boys are allowed to play on the tractors, or four-wheelers, or climb up on top of the hay bales.  They now get to pretend with the real thing!  (I love listening to their conversations when they are doing this.) But sometimes, this hands on real life play poses some problems.  You see, both my boys learned at a young age how to turn the key in that ignition to start whatever it is they are playing on.  We, don't ever let them play on any equipment when its running.  And the keys are always hung on the peg board out of reach.  But kids love keys and sometimes imagining the lawn mower is turned on is not good enough for them.  Being able to use the keys makes them feel big and important!

When Cooper was about two years old, he was helping in the shop, and he was begging for the keys.  We had told him no several times and he was just crushed.  He knew that to be able to get any work done with that lawn mower he needed to be able to turn it on and you can't turn it on if you don't have a key! That was when I came up with an idea.  I left Cooper in the capable hands of his father and made a quick trip to the local hardware store.   I went to the back of the store and picked out a blank key.  I picked one that was green and bought a key chain with a snap to add to it.  This became Cooper's Magic Key.  This magic key could turn on any piece of equipment and open any gate.  When it was not in use it could be snapped to his belt loop.  Man was he proud!  He loved having his own key and for a long time, all on his own, he would put the key in his pocket whenever he went to the farm with his dad.

Well, today was the day that Wyatt got his own Magic Key!  He was so excited to finally be like all the big boys!  He spent all evening walking around the house pretending to lock and unlock all the doors.  And when it was bedtime he wanted to hold his Magic Key while he was being rocked.

This time goes by way to fast and one day I'll wish that the simple act of buying a blank key with a matching snap would be all it takes to make everything better!  So, tonight hold your baby extra tight and say a prayer that the Magic will last a long time.

Love Amy