Hands up who is writing Christmas lists?
List for Christmas presents, Christmas food, Christmas cards – it doesn’t seem so much the season to be jolly, but the season to be list making! At our place we are going around and around in circles trying to write a list for Santa. Not for any sort of fun either. Family and friends want to know what to get my boys for Christmas. The problem is my boys swap and change their mind almost every moment. I want the Harry Potter books. No, I want Lego. Actually, I want money. PJ won the argument last week, he wanted “to be Santa.” His reasoning “this way I can get whatever I like whenever I like.”
That boy often has a way of shifting my perspective with his cheekiness and quirky take on life. I gave up my battalion defence against toys and Christmas and surrendered to that warm fuzzy feeling that Christmas isn’t about lists, it is about kids and connecting with those you love. So Dear Santa, this year my boys would like to have things that tug and pull at their imagination.
Imagination is everything. Not just in a child’s life, in everyone’s life. Our ability to dance and escape reality, twist and turn our stories and free fall backwards into a sea of possibility. Imagination. Sometimes you need nothing, but a quiet moment gazing out of a window to spark imagination. Sometimes it is a good book that sinks you deeper and deeper into your chair with the turn of each page. Sometimes it can be a great toy. There is no wrong or right way to entertain imagination. At the moment PJ is immersed in the world of words and letters all in anticipation of starting school next year. Forever asking me how to spell things. Forever trying to write stories and draw pictures. His little imagination comes alive with the simplest of words and the giant leap that word can take him into a story.
My boys are always building things. Cardboard boxes from the kitchen become weapons, worlds and armour. Their imagination sometimes needs very little to spin into a whole afternoon of creating and playing. Sometimes stories from books they are reading come to life, other times stories completely new spring into form in their creations. While their creations may not seem picture perfect, for them (and for me) each and every one is perfect. For each construction, twist of clay, blob of dough or carefully cut cardboard is a beacon of their imagination. There are no rules when it comes to imagination and certainly no score card. That is what makes imagination so ultimately perfect. It’s all encompassing ability to be everything and anything you want it to be. In turn, it allows you to be everything and anything you want to be.
The ocean is calling our imagination, especially as the year tapers to its end. Endless days spent in the sun, waves crashing on the shore. No school run, no appointments, no commitments. Except the commitment to summer itself. Both my boys cannot wait to escape once Christmas is over. Cannot wait to pack their beach toys, bathers and head to the golden sand of the north coast where imagination plays best. Imagination sheds the dark grey of winter, strips down to its innocence and dances among the waves in the ocean. So many moments at the beach I put down my book and simply watch these two little boys play and create on the sand. There is something about such moments, such memories that I know I want to hold on to forever, make them linger. Imagination the reason the magic all happens.
As each day ends and bedtime unravels the tired little feet, sore little heads and full tummies that lay to bed each night I do my best to make sure the last thing my boys end their day with – is imagination. Imagination never rests. Imagination dances through time and space fearless and unrestrained. Jumping across dimensions, like jumping through puddles. I read the stories, we talk about our day and leave beacons beside our bed to protect us at night. Night lights and toys, favourite books and special things from our day. For while my boys rest I let them in on the secret, that their imagination paints through their dreams and chalks the drawings that linger in their sleep. On the wings of the angels imagination is the one who protects our little ones as they sleep at night.
So be kind to yourself as your write your lists and tick the boxes this Christmas. Find the extra patience you need for your children, your loved ones and for yourself. And always remember when it comes to the spirit of giving you are not simply buying a trinket or possession for someone else – you are buying them a gateway to their imagination, an escape. Imagination is everything, especially at Christmas with the ones you love.
The incredible dreamers and creators at Tiger Tribe are giving away to one lucky reader all the amazing Tiger Tribe toys for the imagination shown above. Magnificent World of ABC, Quut Alto, Quut Cuppi, Quut Ringo, Quut Scoppi, Casagami Solar Night Light and Super Clay Robot Kit ~ all valued at $155. Simply use the Rafflecopter form below to enter.
Are you writing Christmas lists?
Is imagination everything?
Disclosure: This post was not only written in collobaration with Tiger Tribe, but it was written with my deepest gratitude to Tiger Tribe. Once upon a time when my blog was merely three weeks old they took a chance on me and offered me my very first ever sponsored post. Our collaboration and friendship has only grown in respect and strength since then. A testament to relationships being so important in life, no matter the reason.
Linking up with Jess for #IBOT
