Through the eyes of my children

I've been thinking about my children a fair bit lately. It delights me to no end that, despite (or perhaps because of) what they have experienced in life so far, their ability to marvel at something, and just 

believe

is intact and well.

Take Easter for instance.

We moved campgrounds on Easter Sunday, and our first spot was not one that would encourage lingering.  And off we went. The kids didn't say too much about it being Easter, knowing it was a moving day, but Lily did wonder about the Easter bunny. We reassured her that he would find us, and she was okay with that.

Once we were settled in to our new campground in the Poconos, I sent Bob and the kids off to play at the playground, and while they were gone, worked some Easter magic.

When the kids returned I announced "Guess what? The Easter bunny came while you were at the playground!"

And their eyes lit up with excitement. The only questions were about what he did. I told them he went in the trailer and hopped around for a moment, and then hopped around outside muttering about "treats" and "hiding". Lily did state that no one sees the Easter bunny, but I told her that sometimes parents help, because he's a busy fellow. And that was enough for her.  

Both of them found their inside treats quickly, and then went all around the outside of our camp spot hunting for the treats the bunny had left behind. All the while were exclamations indicating they were both convinced that the Easter bunny had really been there. 

There was no "Oh, mom, you did this." or anything like that. They believed (and believe) that the Easter bunny is real. They believe that without question. We read a silly Easter story my mom had written and sent us that evening, and it just helped to add to the feeling that Easter was a magical time when ridiculously unplausable things could really happen.

They both talked about the visit from the Easter bunny for days. (Not so much about the treats specifically, although they did inhale those - but about the event itself)

I hope they never lose that ability to marvel at the world and believe in the magic of it. Watching through the eyes of my children helps me hold on to that sense of wonder of the world around us, and believe, perhaps just a little bit in the Easter bunny too. (Because the world really is a place to marvel at, and it seems that as adults we forget so fast!)