persuasion

Today's moment belongs to R, a three year old with tremendous powers of persuasion. I had a looooooong list of things to do waiting for me when I got up this morning, and I'd barely set foot on the to-do path when I got a phone call from R. She got straight to the point, "Want to go to the Aquarium today, Moaike?" All at once, nothing on the list made sense. I hadn't seen my sweet R for over a week, it was pouring rain outside, it was a perfect day for the Aquarium and she knew it. After a brief conversation with her father, I agreed to take her, at which point she added, "Can we ask H, too?" From there it snowballed into a veritable party-- with one thing leading to another we rounded up R's dad, R's sister, H, and H's brother, forming a proper little troop. It was a blast. Keeping track of four little explorers was challenging, but we managed. Otters, dolphins, Jelly fish, alligators, red ibis, turtles, snakes, sea stars and anemones-- It's a magical place. For me it's all the more magical getting to see it through the eyes of my precious babies, for whom it's all bigger and brighter and more amazing than it would otherwise be for a wizened adult. I thanked R at the end of our visit, for her brilliant idea. Her smile and the sparkle in her blue, blue eyes were icing on the cake.