Michelle Pas'cal

I remember playing the pinball game at the arcade as a kid. I now play another form of the game…I have yet to name it though. The idea is similar. In my game the idea is to get all 5 kids upstairs and then keep them upstairs until I can get them each showered, into pajamas and their teeth and hair brushed…all while attempting to not create more of a mess then there generally is in their rooms, keep the fighting to a minimum and not take the entire night to get the job done. It may seem simple in ink but I can testify that it is much harder than just trying to keep that little silver ball in play! There is always the battle of order and I think dealing with 5 kids all requesting to go first or last (depending on the night) should earn me some serious extra points! Then there is the temptation of the stairs…there is a serious magnetic pull happening at the bottom…”I need this, I forgot to get that…it is never ending. I’m pretty sure I have solved the “I need a drink” request…without knowing how important my choice was when picking out the assesories for my new bathroom…I picked the faucet because of the look of it…now I know I subconsciously picked it because it also doubles as a perfect drinking fountain…extra points for sure!! Now we can tackle the biggest issue…jumping on beds…I have always been against it and my kids know that and are generally super good about not jumping on beds…when we got a new temperpedic mattress a few years ago they attempted to test out its jump ability…that was actually very funny to watch! Last night however while playing this still un-named game…my youngest taught me something I am sure I once knew as a kid myself. In an attempt to collect all the wet towels from the bedroom floors I walk into my sons room to see Finnly jumping on Jude’s bed…I instantly ask her to stop and without hesitation she says…”but I’m trying to see the top of the world!” It was at that moment that I stopped and realized that she was looking out of the window at the top of each bounce…who am I to stop a 4 year old from attempting such a powerful thing? How do I know what it is she is trying to accomplish? I’m pretty sure it would be at this point that the little silver ball was stuck and I would then be trying to shake it free. There was a time when all those free thinking, free flowing thoughts were a daily event…as we grow that all changes and we forget about the magic those thoughts brought into our worlds. So as my pinball game will continue as it always was I will now look at it through the magic of a child’s thoughts…