Yesterday, Thomas found a patch of four-leaf clovers in our front yard. He came running in with clover in hand and indeed to me, it looked a four-leaf clover. Upon further inspection of the photos from the day, I'm not so sure they were all four leaved, but Thomas was certain of his absolute luck in finding so many. I've never found one.
He insisted he found at least five and was going to give one to me so I would have a better day with Parker and another to Henry so he would have a better day at school.
He took one to school and it was my volunteer day in his classroom. He told me he took one for good luck so I would be able to do his activity with him. He even wanted me to play with him on the playground.
I know this project may seem to some very childish... the use of objects to make wishes. The thing is my children believe whole-heartedly, as do most children, in the power of certain objects to make wishes come true. As an adult, you don't necessarily believe this is the case, but you still teach these sorts of things to your children, like you allow them to believe and tell them about the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus. You may no longer believe these things will help at all but your children are still invested and so are you.
The beauty of making wishes and using objects to do so is what it reveals about the people around you. Thomas revealed many important things to me yesterday. He cares deeply about his brothers and wants things to be better for Henry. He loves me more than I really thought he did at this age. He and his brother Parker know far too much about what is going on with Henry. They worry about him.
Conversely, I worry about them feeling like they get enough attention and love. Maybe I should stop checking out books on special needs and autism and the like because in these books, it never fairs well for the siblings. Of course, these are absolute statements and my children are individuals.
However, I still close my eyes when I blow out the candles on my birthday cake and I throw coins in fountains and scatter dandelion seeds even though I know how much this goes against maintaining a nice yard... even if I know my wishes are separate from my luck and fate, well, I still keep hoping I can affect all of it in some small way. Don't we all need to hold onto some child-like imaginings of the way the world works?
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