Keeping the magic alive

By Alexia Saleem

I love how kids can make a game out of absolutely anything and find the joy in everything. But somewhere along the way we lose the ability to do so. Or at least I did. We learn to grow up and get serious, to follow rules and comply. We forget what it’s like to have fun, to explore and to greet each new day expectant. Instead, we start to decide how we think the day should turn out. What happened to simply surrendering and allowing the day to unfold, finding magic in every given moment?

I was again reminded of this approach to life and play only last week. The sun was splitting the skies and the kids were itching to get outdoors. The fact that they’d yet to get out of their pyjamas was irrelevant. Who has time to get dressed when you’re excited and the sun is shining?

They asked to play in our local playground also known as the church courtyard across the road. It’s the perfect spot for playing. It’s huge and it’s gated. Ideal for running, scootering, climbing, exploring and expanding their imaginations in ways I can’t even begin to describe.

This time I decided to bring their hula hoop. It’s purple and it used to have these cool LED lights which flickered when twirled before they decided to take it apart to see how it works.

Initially they were both bemused why I was bringing their beloved hula hoop out with us. I admitted I’d acted on an impulse but felt that something fun would come of it, although I had no idea what.

The pair of them shrugged and raced ahead of me clutching a bagful of soft toys, jungle animals and dinosaurs. Their plan: to build a home out of weeds and broken courtyard tiles for their toys. Together they worked tirelessly on their project, pausing now and again to discuss their animals’ needs. Occasionally they giggled between themselves, as they became more and more involved in their game which combined characters from The Lion King and The Jungle Book.

Next on the agenda was lemon picking. Having spied a huge lemon tree that overhangs the churchyard, Katerina informed me we needed a lot of them because lemon pasta was on the dinner menu. I’m not sure where she got that idea. Leonida wanted them to make juice. The seriousness of their expressions told me they meant business and that lemons had become an integral part of their game which I was better off not thwarting.

Throughout the hour they played, the hula hoop lay untouched by my bag along with their now discarded pyjama tops.

Before calling it a day, I suggested we play with the hula hoop. Our spontaneous game involved me throwing it as the pair of them chased after the circular hoop, trying to catch it as it hurtled along the paved courtyard before falling to the ground. The game was hailed a huge success as the two of them whooped and shrieked with delight every time they caught it.

As I watched them running backwards and forwards, I was yet again struck by the beauty of children’s tireless enthusiasm for the new. I was also delighted that between the three of us we’d come up with such a simple game and yet the perfect one to expend boundless energy – particularly my son’s.

Tired after an afternoon of fun and frolics, we headed home, but not before using the church gate as a climbing frame and the hula hoop as a foot lever with which to hoist themselves up onto the church walls.

By the time they were done I was ready to call it a day. That and the evening church service was due to start any minute and I didn’t think churchgoers would be too pleased with my two tearing about the place.

My kids, however, had other plans. Especially once I suggested we go for an ice cream. I mean, who can resist jumping on the roof of a stationary car and using the windshield as a slide? They each had two goes and then it was time to buckle up and head for their usual. Vanilla, hazelnut and mint choc chip for one, vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, hazelnut and mint choc chip for the other. We go that often the ice cream man knows their order. Neither of them got out of the car for they were still in their pyjama bottoms, which were now filthy, as were their hands, feet and hair. Like it or lump it tonight was going to be hair wash day.

Once home, you’d have thought they’d be ready to collapse in a heap and get ready for bed. Not so. It was time for round two of The Lion King and The Jungle Book. Turns out they’d also forgotten some of their toys in the churchyard, so I went back to retrieve them before bath time. Their lion toy is a vital component in their bath games.

As they gave their father an account of their day the hula hoop game featured as a highpoint.

“Next time you come too Baba. You’ll love it. It’s so much fun,” they told him, as they excitedly described what the game involved.

How awesome to be five, I couldn’t help but think. If only we could all remember to keep that magic alive in our approach to everything.