I had the most facinating conversation at the breakfast table this morning with my son, and comedian, Shane. Although he’s only eight, he has this vivid imagination, and a damn fine sense of humor to boot (I’ll take claim for that one). He told me of a pretty detailed dream he had last night. I have no idea where it came from because I’d rather not disect it, and destroy the aspect that it was entirely his creation. For me, it made a wonderfully creative experience- like that of Willy Wonka. It went something like this:
S: Dad, I had a dream last night.
D: You did? Tell me about it.
S: There were two purple hippopotamus with parachutes on their backs.
D: (Thinkin, if this ain’t a grabber- NOTHING is) Oh, yea? Where were they?
S: One was in a hot air balloon. Only one could fit in each hot air balloon, but there were a whole bunch more up in the sky with yellow hippopotamuses, they had parachutes too. And there was a magic machine which created them.
D: What kind of machine?
S: It was kind of like a big box. All the yellow ones came from that, but it created more. It made a candy corn star.
D: Wowwwwww, I candy corn star huh?
S: (Getting excited now….) and when Brianna (his sister) touched the star, it made someone come out of nowhere with a whole giant bag of candy corn that they gave us. Each one didn’t look like candy corn though. It looked like those machines that pop out the candy.
D: Pez dispensers?
S: Yea, each one was candy corn but shaped like Pez machines. I was putting a whole bunch on a chair for Brianna. She was going to make a statue out of them.
D: On the chair?
S: No, just in front of it. The statue was going to look like her.
D: And you were helping her build it?
S: I was putting them on the chair for her to use, but you couldn’t mold them. But it still looked like her.
D: What did the magic machine look like?
S: It was blue and grey and looked like a pretty big box (about 3′ high by 4′ long). It was neat. Oh, and there was a large purple candy corn like a circle.
D: If it was purple, how did you know it was candy corn?
S: I just knew.
D: Were all the candy corns the color of candy corns?
S: Some were and some weren’t.
D: Back to the purple Hippo. You said one went on a hot air balloon, and the other stayed on the ground. What did he do?
S: Well….. he also went on a hot air balloon that the magic machine created, but later than the other. The yellow hippos were created a lot earlier then the purple ones.
D: and the magic machine made both the hippos and the hot air balloons?
S: Yea.
At this point, my mind started retreating on this new information and formulating these grand views of a color coated world laced with Willy Wonka like machines and painted candy roads.
When my daughter was five, I was hounded by her kindergarten teacher to come in and do a little writer workshop to help create a children’s book for a contest (she knew I created two). After months of this I finally conceded. When I went in to the class of about 15 five year olds, I thought I’d do a little brainstorming.. see what ideas they could come up with. Well, if you ever do this, and the kids are enthusiasic like my crowd, you’ll walk away BLOWN AWAY. These kids were ALL over me with ideas that were out of the stratosphere AND when they got excited they moved closer. I had like three kids climbing up my legs with their ideas! Their imaginations, without having being squeezed into modern adult thoughts, behaviors, or etiquites and speaking without judgement… BAM! I was so excited by their excitement, that when we finished, I called my friend Pietro who’s this magnificent sculptor and painter (at this time age 72) and offered to go to his place drive him up to the school and drive him back. He liked the idea and volunteered to do a sculptor workshop of making paper heads (he sculpts newspaper covered by tape and paints them). WELL, he got the same reaction with the kids… this class which included my daughter was so enthusastic, it impacted everyone involved. We both walked away with probably one of the greatest experiences an adult could have.
So… if ever you’re offered to hear a child’s dream. NEVER neglect the opportunity. They think on different levels than us, not twisted by adult thought and opinions- it’s pure. Entertain them and let them speak their mind- DON’T spoil it by putting in your two cents. You might be surprized what you hear, or enlightened by the colors of a child’s world.