Just Imagine.....

A couple months back Princess got a little plastic dolphin from the treasure box at school.  She was very excited about it!  Princess told a classmate all about how she wished she had a REAL dolphin that she could keep in a nearby reservoir and go for rides on.  Her classmate looked at her in mild disgust and proceeded to tell her that it just was NOT possible.  Princess shook her head and said "I know...I'm just using my imagination!".  What happened next shocked and saddened me.  Princess's classmate, in a rather haughty little voice, proclaimed "I NEVER use my imagination".  How sad is that???  This child is FIVE years old and doesn't think it's necessary to use her imagination. 

Can you imagine where mankind would be now if it weren't for imaginations?  Would we have fire, houses, electricity, medicines, books, scientific advances, theater, ANYthing?  I don't think Einstein just woke up one day and pronounced E=MC2!  I think he used his imagination to picture what things might be possible.  Alexander Graham Bell must have imagined being able to talk to someone on the other side of the city instantaneously before inventing the telephone.  Is not curiosity just an extension of imagination?  Without imagination I dare say the world would be an awful place to live! 

I am very grateful that my parents instilled in my siblings and I a very healthy dose of imagination.  They really fostered that curiosity, that will to see things differently.  I love seeing that same will in my own children.  I am so happy that they have a love of using their minds to see things differently and to imagine something different.  Picasso exclaimed the other day that "I have the best imagination EVER!".  Thank goodness for children!  They help keep that imagination alive in us; they help us not take ourselves to seriously.

What have you imagined today?

Costumes

My kids love dressing up.  They always have.  On any given day who knows what my kids will be!  A princess, a knight, a dog, a Jedi, a lion, a cowboy and it goes on and on.  As far as their imaginations can carry them, which is pretty darn far.  I love watching them use their imaginations.  Dressing up, creating a world.  Sometimes the world is just on paper, sometimes the world is created around them. 

Drawn by my 7 year old son

This past weekend we attended two Halloween events - the school carnival and a church party.  So we'd spent the past few weeks coming up with the best way to do their costumes.  My younges, her costume was easy - Strawberry Shortcake.  We already had the costume, just had to buy some red hair spray.  My next oldest decided he wanted to be the Headless Horseman.  Wowzers!  We ended up having him wear his dad's old duster and painted his face to look like a pumpkin.  We bought him a black cowboy hat and he was set.  Next oldest child wanted to be Alex Russo from Wizards of Waverly Place (played by Selena Gomez).  She had clothes that would work, we bought a black wig, a wand, and some cute black boots, so she was ready to go.  My oldest wanted to be the tenth Doctor Who (the David Tennant Doctor).  We got him a nice brown pin striped suit (he needed a new one for church anyways), a blue shirt, red/blue tie, white sneakers, glasses, and a sonic screwdriver.  Getting his hair to do the messy hair look was a pain!  That boys hair likes to lie flat.  The kids had a fabulous time at the parties they went to.  Nobody really got who the older three were, at least not without hints.  That's okay though, they knew who they were and they were happy.