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Showing posts from November, 2018

Dragons, Kings, Queens, & Horses

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My kids and I play make believe often. We take turns being dragons and knights, princes and princesses, wizards and trolls, and kings and queens. In one of our recent playtimes they introduced a new character: a horse. I was sitting on my throne made of pillows in my castle made of cushions protected by walls formed from blankets when my kids collectively agreed, “Dad, you’re a horse.”  After a bit of arguing and negotiation it became clear that my short-lived reign was at an end. My new role was to crawl around my house on my hands and knees with a kid on my back while the two other kids shouted instructions from on high. My knees ached, my glasses got bent, my back was bruised, my shirt collar was stretched beyond repair and I loved every minute of it.  Regardless of our age, I think we all like to dream about being kings and queens. We seek autonomy and power. We long for the freedom to make our own choices, set our own schedules, and chart our own course. We want to sur

Too.

My children have entirely way too many books (and stuffed animals and toys and crayons and clothes). And so, recently in an effort to clean their rooms and teach them a lesson I challenged them to find all the books they weren’t going to read again and put them in a pile so we could donate them to kids who don’t have any. I explained to them that when you have a lot it’s always nice to help people who only have a little.  When I left the room I expected to return to a short pile of pathetic looking books – books without their covers and with pages torn out, drawn on, and dog-eared. I figured they’d each grab one or two of these old books, throw it in the pile and call it a day. I was amazed to discover the opposite. Not only did they create a large pile of books, but also their pile contained some of their best, newest and most favorite stories.  Then, I panicked a little bit.  I said to my daughters who are four and six years old, “Hey guys, good work here but are you sur