Illusions of grandeur

As Talmage rounded the corner of my room, I heard an audible gasp. His eyes widen as his jaw dropped open, his voice grew in excitement and awe, "Aunt Jer, did Jake have you that treasure chest? Did you go on the boat? Did you get to see the Neverland Pirates? Is there gold in this treasure box? " Without waiting for a response, he quickly added, "Do you have the key? We have to open it to find the treasure inside."

I played along while smiling inside. Of course I couldn't find the key. This cute boy couldn't open up his precious found to treasure to discover it only held the treasure of old quilts handed down through the generations. This boy had found his lost treasure and spent a half a hour trying to pry it open.

Oh how I love the sweet discoveries and illusions of childhood grandeur. I love reveling in their world of innocence and imagination and dreams for the future.

I was reminded of some of my favorites from Hayden's childhood:

Ages about 3 to 6- anytime Hayden was asked where he was going to on a mission, his reply was always the same, "New York so I can baptize Spider-Man".

Age 3 to 4- Hayden didn't miss a night of praying for "Scar to repent and not kill Mufasa and be nicer to Simba." Then was absolutely devastated when Scar would continue his same behavior and kill Mufasa. He knew his prayers were answered and couldn't understand the refusal for Scar to change his behavior.

Age 6 - Hayden watched the movie Sky High, and waited and waited for his own superpowers to develop. He dreamed in wonder of whether his superpower would involve flying, speed, strength or freezing people. He practiced all and did all he could to develop his muscles to be ready for his superpowers. And he made sure to pray that he would not end up as just a sidekick. He wanted to be the hero.

 Poor Talmage, he finally gave up on breaking into the chest and finding some great treasure. Hayden came in and started to tell Talmage that it was filled with blankets and I quickly hushed him. I then sat him down and told him the stories of wanting to go on a mission to New York, praying for every Disney villian to decide to make better choices, and waiting for his own super powers to develop.

After talking to him, Hayden decided that we need to go get gold coins or something this weekend, scatter them through the "treasure chest" and then "find" the key. He realized how important it is to have childhood illusions of grandeur and awe. I'm in. Definitely on the "to do" list to create a grand adventure for Talmage.

After all, Hayden still will only play with the good guys and be the good guy. He refuses to have anything to do with the bad guy and villains winning is absolutely not an option.