What a Wonderful World

On Friday I took Benjamin to the Minnesota Zoo. They have an exhibit right now about Dinosaurs. You take a trail through a prehistoric time zone, and there are robotic dinosaurs all throughout this wooded trail. They did a really good job: the dinosaurs look pretty realistic. They move, and grunt, and roar.

Benjamin loves dinosaurs. All of Thursday night and Friday morning we talked about how mommy wasn't going to go to work, but instead mommy and Benjamin were going to go to the zoo together and see the dinosaurs - he was ecstatic. All he could talk about was the dinosaurs. He was practically shaking with excitement.

There's a big stone archway to walk through, and right at the front is a giant brontosaurus-type dinosaur, moving it's head and roaring at you. One minute he was skipping and singing about dinosaurs, the next, he heard the roar and stopped dead in his tracks.

"That's a big dinosaur." He said.
"It is! Should we go see it?"
"No, I don't want to. It's gonna get me."
"It won't get you. It's a nice dinosaur."
...after some more coaxing, he took my hand.
"You keep me safe, mommy?"
"Yes, sweetie. I'll keep you safe."
"You promise?"
"I promise."

So we began tip-toeing through the arch and into the prehistoric, hand in hand.

It was my favorite experience I've ever had with Benjamin. Hands down. We tiptoed up to the dinosaurs, and whispered to them.

"Hi dinosaur. I'm your friend. You be nice, okay?"

Some dinosaurs he didn't want to walk past, and I had to carry him, his legs and arms wrapped intensely around my body. He kept asking if I was going to keep him safe. He was holding my hand tighter than he ever had. And he thought the dinosaurs were real. In his heart and soul, he didn't doubt for a second that he was walking among living, breathing, dinosaurs...

And today we went to the Mall of America. We adventured through Sea Life and I adored watching him squeal with delight as sharks, sting rays, and sea turtles swam over his head. His eyes were bright with excitement, wonder and awe.

After Sea Life, we went on some rides. I sat with him on a school bus that went up into the air in a giant circle, as he squealed: "Lookit, Mommy! We flying!"

One of the best things about being a parent is experiencing the world through my toddler's eyes. When does the world lose it's magic? When do we stop believing in the impossible? When does our imagination dissipate, to be replaced by the mundane world of bills and responsibilities?

It's not a particular age. And it's different for everyone. Life is tough. And as we get older, it seems to get tougher. We earn bumps and bruises along the way. We fight battles. We climb mountains. And it can be just downright exhausting.

Being a parent has reminded me that the world is still a magical place, and that even among the mundane, life can be exhilarating. There are magical things all around us: rainbows, lightning & thunder, bubbles. Gosh, watch a toddler play with bubbles, and all your worries will disappear. I'm striving to see the world the way my toddler sees the world. A world where stairs are mountains we have to climb to escape the tigers chasing us. Where living, breathing dinosaurs could be a reality. Where crocodiles live in our bathtubs, and we can "fly" through the field of grass simply by sticking out our arms and running with the wind kissing our cheeks. A simpler, magical world full of limitless possibilities. A world where anything is possible. And everything is beautiful.

In One Door and Out the Other

You learn a lot about life when you become a parent. Kids are great at inadvertently teaching you life lessons. Take my Benji, for example. Every day he teaches me something. Sometimes it's patience. Sometimes it's selflessness. Other times, it's a lesson I have to dig for...

He's a professional potty-goer. Has been for about a year. He does a great job at going on his own. In fact, he doesn't usually like anyone to help him. It's one of my favorite things, for two reasons:

1) It means I don't have to make a trek to the bathroom every hour with him and spend my time pulling down and up undies and wiping a squishy little toddler bum (motherhood is a glorious occupation).

2) It means I get to excitedly wait for him to come back into the room and see how he looks. Usually  he looks quite amusing:

It happens frequently. He goes in the through the door looking one way, and comes back out looking another way. Sometimes, a lot of the time, totally mismatched and crazy looking. 

But that's life, right? Sometimes, we have plans. We make these plans and, on paper, they look all put together and perfect. But then life happens. We walk in through life's door, and come out totally different. Half of the time we don't look anything like we did when we first walked in. And often times, not only do we look totally different, but we're completely mismatched.

And that's okay. 

Because even though Benjamin comes out looking completely changed and a little silly, he's still this crazy, happy, goofy kid. He just dives right back in to whatever he was doing before he needed to go potty, enjoying all the simple pleasures life has to offer him.

Sometimes life throws us curveballs. Sometimes things don't go as we planned. Sometimes we go through life's challenges and come out a little different. A little mismatched. And that's okay. Because if there's one thing my toddler has taught me through his bathroom adventures, it's that imperfections add to our character...and they should never hold us back from enjoying the joys life has to offer.