Tea Parties and Dancing Feet…I am all in!

A small sturdy hard wood table built by my husband sat parallel to our kitchen table in our modest Vermont home. Only feet off the floor. Complete with a couple of refinished wooden toddler sized chairs traditionally positioned at each end of the table. Just the right size for our twenty-two-month-old granddaughter Belle…

Brightly colored plastic teacups and saucers decorated the tabletop. Primary blue and green. Small yellow spoons lovingly placed to the right of each cup and saucer. A pink and purple teapot complete with an accompanying sugar and creamer shared the center space with a round of multicolored plastic cupcakes. Imagination was the remaining magic ingredient…

Belle carefully poured air into each small blue cup. Her baby doll benefitted from a sip or two as did each adult watching in wonder. Her dark brown eyes sparkled as she cared for each of her guests. She had never experienced any of what she was pretending to serve, but her imagination defied this knowledge…

Music played as the party continued. John Denver, James Taylor. The Beatles. Her head began to bop in acknowledgement of the musical beat and her small feet simultaneously responded. The kitchen oak floor was immediately transformed into a dancehall. A spontaneous swirl. I scooped up my precious granddaughter and we spun to the left and abruptly to the right. Thrills and giggles filled the air. The wilder the better. Her head thrown back as I cradled her petite body. Freedom flowed through her curls. Catching the breeze against her porcelain skin her eyes partially closed. Delightfully in the moment…

“Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.” ~ E.B. White