I have a feeling, a strong feeling, that God knew I would have a really tough time not looking directly at the sun on this solar eclipse day. I wonder if it is gray and overcast so that I would have no reason to look at the sun? Maybe this weather is for my own good!
Instead of standing out looking at what I shouldn’t, I have been invited into the world of a 3, going on 4 year old. I am learning so many new things. Things that I have managed to get by without knowing for 50 some plus years! (Okay…..a lot closer to 60 years…..)
I am learning all the names of the little ponies. I am also discovering what it feels like to be “schooled” by a blue-eyed, tow-headed little sprite. When playing with little ponies, I have found that you cannot just make up your own random conversation.
She has instructed me that Rarity (a sparkly maned pony) would never say “Whats up?” or “Let’s go see what is in the fridge for a snack.” Instead, I must learn to recite exactly what would be said in the show by those little ponies.
This small, sparkly child has invited me to play kitchen with her. We have made “air” pizza in her kitchen oven, tested plastic fruits and vegetables, and strategically placed a snapshot of her and her big brother, on her kitchen shelf. I had to laugh because she placed it so strategically that the salt and pepper shaker covered her brother and it looked like she was the only one in the snapshot!
We also played ice cream shop with ice cream legos. I have no idea what flavors I chose but it looked pretty.
I have tried to have a conversation with her about the act that she will be starting preschool next week. She wants nothing to do with that thought. Last month her grandpa tried to encourage her about preschool by telling her she would make lots of new friends. Her response, “I have a friend….I don’t want any more friends.” She is definitely a quality over quantity girl!
This small child, cares nothing for the fact that an amazing event is taking place outside today. It means nothing to her that it will be years and years before there is another solar eclipse like this one.
Perhaps that is okay. When you are three it is the simple things around you that matter. Maybe I should take some lessons from this little munchkin. For all of us disappointed by cloudy skies impacting our solar viewing….the lesson to learn is – life is short, go find something else to do if things don’t work out!
I have a couple more days to learn some more life lessons from my little sprite. I have a feeling they will be wonderful, funny and memorable lessons for me.
“You get what you get
and you don’t pitch a fit.”
James K ~ age 6
The Chicken Grandma 