Mundane and Magical

As a "outside the home" working mother of two girls, it's really hard to work in quality time with my daughters, usually I am rushing home thinking about what to cook for dinner and determining what I have in the freezer that can defrost quickly and what vegetable or fruit can I get in the meal so that it's balanced. Then its off to help with homework, coordinate playdates and carpools so that my girls can get to their activities in the event I don't make it out of traffic in time. I rely heavily on my mom friends that work all day at home (and don't get paid) and those that work outside the home and don't get paid what they are worth. They keep me abreast of what's happening in Girl Scouts, who are the better teachers, what happened to the neighbors kids....etc. I mean it....I need them and I try to make sure that I always return the favor.

Tonight was one of those nights, dinner, homework, guitar practice, endless questions and commentaries about subjects that turn my brain into mush and wear my patience thin. However, I bought this awesome book from http://www.scholastic.com/ and it has glow in the dark stars (remember those?) and print outs of the constellations in the sky with binoculars and a booklet with many more details about the planets, stars, meteors and shooting stars. This kit has been sitting on my living room coffee table for about 2 weeks and I still had'nt taken time to share it with them. I wanted some quality time tonight, only because I know that the next 3 days are going to be chaos. So we did, we sat on the rug and identified Casseopeia, Pegasus, Orion and other constellations.

When we went outside, all we could find were the big dipper, little dipper and we think Taurus. My girls were intrigued by the fact that planets are around us and we may be able to see them if we had some tricked out telescope. They wondered if life existed on other planets or maybe even the stars. I tried to incorporate some religious and scientific explanations which may cause them confusion later in life as they attempt to balance the two theories. I don't think that at their ages they can comprehend the vastness of the earth which has so many different people, cultures, languages and traditions, much less the incredible depth of our oceans and the immensity of the universe around them.

I hope to teach them to look at things around them, not just houses, bikes, toys and the color of nail polish. They can look to the sky and be astonished at the magical aspects of the heavens, they can listen to the rustles of leaves and wonder if there truly is a spirit in inanimate objects. One day they may become jaded as knowledge teaches them that there is a logical and scientific explanation for everything. Heck, I am a pretty logical, numbers driven person, believing wholeheartedly in scientifically or numerically supported evidence.

However, I also know that I see magic in the mundane world everyday. I see it in the calm before storms, I see it when birds return to my feeder afterwards, signaling that all is right with the world again. I want them to see the mysterious of their universe, and look for it in the most mundane places. I hope that they will be surprised at the delicate balance that you see in the world, the way the people, places and things all fall into line and support or oppose each other. It may be mundane to write about how other mother's help me and combine it with night viewings of the sky. It's the ole' "it takes a village to raise a child" concept merged with a mama trying to define her version of quality time. But I see it as proof that all is right in the world, it's magical to witness woman supporting each other without trying to define who has the tougher "job". It's mundane to try to teach your kids about the world around them, but it's magical when they connect dots in the sky.

by Limon Partido