I walk out of the kids’ bedroom, having just put Bode to sleep for nap. Dagny is laying on the floor, halfway into the hallway from the “quiet room.” She queries, “Mama?”
“Yes?” I say, walking over to her and a plush horse with a rainbow mane and tail. Some of us know this horse as Starlight, Rainbow Bright’s beloved steed.
“I was just thinking we could get some magic dust to make this horse big and can talk.”
“I love your imagination.” I crooned, as I brushed back her hair and kissed her on the forehead, “but I don’t think horses can talk.”
“But where can we get some magic dust?” she continued. I confided that I wasn’t sure that magic dust existed but she was determined. “But how can we make this horse big and can do things regular horses do?”
“You can do anything in your imagination, sweetie.” It was at this point that her precious face crumpled and she began to dissolve. I crouched down to embrace her, and she sniffed, “But I’m not magic, I’m just an ordinary girl!”
“That’s the best thing you could be sweetie.” She was not to be consoled, but agreed to try to fall asleep, that maybe she could dream of where to find the magic dust.
Funny thing is, these little moments are indeed full of magic, and despite myself, it breaks my heart that magic can’t quite bring her horse to life. But it does infuse me with it, and today, like most days, I badly needed an infusion.
