The kids and I read one of our favorite books tonight, Magic Train Ride by Sally Crabtree. In the book, the passengers take their magic tickets and travel to all of these amazing stations…space, under the sea, in a land of cakes (my personal favorite)…just to name a few. It’s a great book, full of colorful pictures and fun phrases like, “Quickly, quickly, down the track, clickety, clickety, clack!”
At the end of the book, when they reach their “final destination”, it asks “where has your magic ticket taken you?” So, I asked Madi and Parker where would they go. Here are their responses…
Madi: I would go to a land where I would get a hundred wishes. Then I would wish that I was a princess with black hair and a gold crown. I would have 600 dresses, all of them purple, silver shoes, and pink gloves.
(I think she would have gone on with more princess details, but Parker wanted to tell me where HE would go. He demands your complete attention, to the point where he says, “look at me, Mom…look at me still…” until I give him undivided eye contact.)
Parker: I would go to a pirate shop, and I would get a pirate costume. I would get a pirate hat, a pirate coat, and…and…a duck costume.
(I really thought that he was going to say parrot or monkey, not duck, but whatever works, right?)
It is so fun to see their imagination churning away, whether they are thinking up magic destinations, hanging out with their imaginary friends (Sarah and Diego played outside with us yesterday), or building a subway station with blankets and chairs. I wish only that the realm of possibility was so accessible for me as a grownup, and that I wouldn’t shut down my dreams so quickly as I allow the practicality of reality seep in.
In the mind of a child, they can be whatever they want to be…a farmer, a Wonder Pet, a zookeeper…while I can think up a hundred reasons why I can’t be a writer, a chef, a gardener…
So…where would your magic ticket take you?
Think about it…where is that destination that seems as far away as a magic fairyland? Dream up a duck…or hundreds of purple dresses…you never know where your imagination might take you…
— Post From My iPad
Boy, I don’t even know! At this point, the imagination is taking me to a long nap and a chance to go to the bathroom by myself! Then, I may be persuaded to dream of a house -in the country- where everything is spic and span cleaned by someone other than me, my husband is cooking dinner on the grill and I’m enjoying a good book in the sun, while my kids are amusing themselves in the barn with the haylofts & barn cats. Wow – I must be a simple gal at heart! Who knew? Thanks for the trip!