Grownups Are a Little Like Magic

Lately, our four-year-old has been excelling at her four-year-old-ness and testing all boundaries. She’s a powerhouse, so on days when I’m well resting and in the right frame of mind, I can find her responses and tantrums amazing and a little amusing, but on days when I’m exhausted, then her behavior lands differently. Whether emotions are stable or not, she has a way to stop me in my tracks with what she says. This last week, she said something that made me rethink being an adult–“Grownups are a little like magic!”

I was handing her her lunchbox and asked if she needed help opening a package. At first, she refused, as most four-year-old kids would, but then she asked me if I could just start it. So I opened the smallest corner, and she happily opened the rest while saying, “Grownups are like magic!” I chuckled and then said, “I like that!”

We talked about other examples of how grownups are like magic. Like how sometimes moms have mom magic and can find things or create things that kids are looking for. I joked with her and said that grownups are magic, but she quickly replied, “LIKE magic!”

I shifted my thinking that evening. To a little kid, grownups are like magic. Grownups can do what they want when they want, and they provide for their kids. Kids see the magic that parents and caregivers seem to have. And I want to create more of it for them and for me. Those moments where I shift the mood from those stressful tantrums to a more playful exchange it is a little magic! Bringing imagination into those tantrum moments can be magic! So, I’m consciously working towards more of those moments!

It’s so easy to be frustrated with life’s daily difficulties that it’s easy for me to forget to be light-hearted and try to create those magical moments. So, I am reenergized to bring back the magic of being a grownup in my interactions with our kids and in our daily lives because grownups are a little like magic!