Magical thinking

Yesterday during dinner I filled Fiona in on a little surprise: the following afternoon we were going to the library to go to a magic show! She beamed, then asked me, "Well, what will the magic DO? What will it be LIKE? HOW will it happen?" That's when I realized that she had never had the first lick of exposure to magic, and that she was in for a real treat. I told her I couldn't really explain it for her nearly as well as she'd be able to see and hear for herself at the program, so we could go watch it together. Then, if she felt interested in learning more about magic, we could check out some library books and try a little magic of our own. She was pleased. Meanwhile Nora, oblivious to the talk of magic around her, utilized the "magic" of gravity to hurl a partial plate of pasta to the floor.

Today Fiona was a bundle of electricity while waiting to leave home for the program. At long last we made it to the library, settled into the auditorium, and the magic commenced. I was watching Fiona's reaction closely to try to determine what she was thinking about the whole thing. She seemed riveted, certainly. But she never laughed, or even smiled at the magician's numerous jokes-- even the Three Stooges-type that usually work for everybody. I began to paraphrase some of the things that were happening onstage to make sure she had some context upon which to frame the experience.

Suddenly, the magician "accidentally" let go of one of her long twisty balloons, and it went zinging through the air. "IT'S ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEE!" she crowed.

Fiona looked at me with eyes as big as dishpans. "Is it, Mom?" she asked incredulously. Then I understood. Fiona has more than enough magical thinking all by herself. This "magic show" was largely lost on her. She still lives in a world where many magical things are possible every day, and she's still - at four and three quarters - a bit fuzzy on the difference between things that are actually possible and things that never could be. From time to time I asked her to describe what the experience was like for her, but she couldn't really tell me about it in any sort of logical, narrative way. She had fun though, and decided to check out some related books, so I guess that's magical enough.