Probing mother (being me) asks, “So what friends did you play with today?”
Jakob: “Mummble, mummble, I played with a few friends.”
“Well, that is good, who did you play with?”
“I played with David’s friend. *mummble, mummble* she is very beautiful. When we play Octonauts she is Dashi.”
“What is her name?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who are you when you play Octonauts?”
“I am Captain Barnacles” (pronounced Bah-na-cles: the show is British and has managed to retain a slight accent on some words). “Captain Barnacles is a good Captain because he always does what is right. David is Quasi. Jonathon used to play Octonauts with us but now he plays with James.”
“Well that sounds like fun. So you don’t know what David’s friend’s name is?”
“No.”
“You should ask her. Do you like playing with her.”
“Yeah, she likes to play with me. We love all the same things.”
There are many parts of this conversation that I just want to bottle up and remember forever. There is an innocence that fades all too quickly, and the beauty of it is that he has no idea of the connotations that go with what he is saying. (This happens to me as well, but it more often than not gets me in trouble as opposed to making me appear any more endearing.) While other kids are playing Star Wars or killing each other with gun and swords, it makes my heart happy to know that Jakob is playing Octonauts with his friends at school and knows that Captain Barnacles is good because he does what is right.
And then there is the girl. The beautiful girl. Who has no name. I recalled later that he actually pointed her out to me this morning when I dropped him off. He had told me that she liked to play Octonauts. There is something about a first crush that makes a Mamma’s heart melt.
These are the days full of the memories I am sure I will treasure forever. It makes me excited to think of who he will become and yet completely anxious because of all that he could lose at the hands of our fallen world. And it makes me wish that I too possessed the faith of a child without every decision or incident colliding into an existential crisis.
Last night, I asked him what he would like to pray for. He said, “Jesus died for our sins.” Simple. Yet so true. And plainly, the reason for existence. So we thanked God for sending Jesus to die for our sins.
As we go into this Thanksgiving weekend, I pray you too will have the faith of a child and Give Thanks.
For those of you wondering what on earth Octonauts are you can see them here. If you couldn’t tell, it’s Jakob’s favourite show. They are big in Britain and since we didn’t have cable there, nor do we have it here, when he went to Grandma’s house and saw them on TV it was a BIG deal!
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