The Joys of Childhood

One little ritual that Noah and I have when getting in and out of the car at night, we always look for the moon and talk about the stars. Many times we will recite "twinkle, twinkle little star."

Recently we came home from church one night and while getting him out of his car seat, I told him to look at the moon. It was a waning crescent moon and a very cloudless night so it was clearly seen.

Noah looked up at he moon and said, "Momma, the moon is broken, we need to fix it."

Oh the joy of childhood innocence!

Reminds me of a poem by Billy Collins. For those of you who have read my blog for a long time, you will know that I am a Billy Collins fan. Some people don't get him, but I so get his---I hesitate to say sense of humor--because it is poetry, but I suppose it would be his thought processes...

My favorite is Forgetfulness.(click on the link to read) But there are others that I equally enjoy.

The following is about a child aging and understanding the changes taking place in their life. But it is only the beginning...

On Turning Ten

The whole idea of it makes me feel

like I'm coming down with something,

something worse than any stomach ache

or the headaches I get from reading in bad light--

a kind of measles of the spirit,

a mumps of the psyche,

a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.

You tell me it is too early to be looking back,

but that is because you have forgotten

the perfect simplicity of being one

and the beautiful complexity introduced by two.

But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit.

At four I was an Arabian wizard.

I could make myself invisible

by drinking a glass of milk a certain way.

At seven I was a soldier,

at nine a prince.

But now I am mostly at the window

watching the late afternoon light.

Back then it never fell so solemnly

against the side of my tree house,

and my bicycle never leaned against the garage

as it does today,

all the dark blue speed drained out of it.

This is the beginning of sadness,

I say to myself,

as I walk through the universe in my sneakers.

It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends,

time to turn the first big number.

It seems only yesterday I used to believe

there was nothing under my skin but light.

If you cut me I could shine.

But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life,

I skin my knees.

I bleed.

~Billy Collins ~