This morning I noticed our freezer door was slightly open so naturally I looked inside to see why it was not fully closed. I discovered that there was a large bowl of dragons frozen in ice.
For those of you with one or no children you might think this is an odd thing to discover. For those of us with three boys this is a perfectly natural occurrence.
My wife and I are long passed the stage where we need to ask silly questions such as, "Why is there a large bowl of dragons in the freezer?" After 12 years of practice, we now know that the obvious answer is because, "you can't make ice in the refrigerator".
The world of a child does not worry about the underlying question parents mean to ask which is, "Why are you freezing your dragons?" They do not need to worry about the question because that question is built on the false premise that assumes there are parameters on imagination and play.
The silly question about the reasoning behind dragon freezing is usually asked by the same parents who say things like, "Why is the dog hand-cuffed to the stairs", or "Why did you draw tiger stripes all over your body", or even the fatuous question, "Why are you naked and jumping on the trampoline ?"
Living in a house with three boys reminds us that asking questions that suggest disapproval is a subtle way of teaching our children to conform. Children are naturally filled with wonder and the desire for adventure. Left on their own they will see the world as it is meant to be seen. That is a world where possibilities are endless and where new ways of doing things are waiting to be explored. It is a world where broken computer parts become robots and where rocks dug up in the backyard become evidence of an ancient burial ground.
It has been a process for me, but now when I see a bowl full of frozen dragons I am learning to say, "Why didn't I think of that?"
I want to see this world in all of the wonder that the Creator intended. I want to honor God by still being impressed with the millions of stars in the sky and the millions of different people in the world. I want to recognize that I still have a lot to learn from all of the people that I interact with each day. People like my creative and observant wife, my experienced and seasoned boss, and my sometimes wild but always fun children.
Life certainly is too interesting to think that there is only one way to play with a dragon or that there is nothing new to discover. So here's to all the kids who teach us to keep dreaming and to keep looking for new adventure.
Now please excuse me, it seems that the 5- year old has his head stuck in the railing of the stairs.
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