April 21, 2016 1:01 pm Their Own Little World
Ozzie was waking up. His four-year old eyes looked at his Grandfather’s blue bottle sitting on a white shelf by his window. He loved looking at this bottle every morning. As the morning light passed through it, he realized there was another bit of blue on the white wall opposite the bottle.
“Ozzie,” his little brother Davey called, “Come here.”
Ozzie left his blue images and ran to Davey’s room just down the hall. Davey sat in his crib, arms up. “Out, Ozzie.”
Ozzie let Davey lean on him as he helped Davey to the floor. They hugged each other. Ozzie led him to the blue bottle and the blue patch. When they got there the light was tiny. They reached to touch it but they were too short.
“Hello, sweethearts. What are my little boys up to?” Alice Sloane asked gently.
“Hi Mommy. Pop’s bottle made a little blue spot on the wall and I wanted Davey to see it.”
“Oh you’re right! How did that happen, you two? I’m going to make some coffee. Call me if you want me.”
“Okay, we will. Our blue friend is leaving.”
Davey kissed the wall where the little blue light was but just lower. “Pweez stay, blue light.”
Ozzie got between the path of light and the wall. “Oh no. He’s gone. Not really, I hid him. He’s back! Oh, there he goes. Let’s look for him tomorrow, okay Davey?” He showed Davey how the sun wasn’t on the blue bottle anymore.
“Where him go?” Davey asked.
As they walked down the sunny hall, they found more light reflecting brilliant little shapes from their mother’s small hand mirror. Ozzie spun the handle of the silver mirror in his hands. Flashes of light brightened up the walls in their mother and father’s room. Then Davey picked up the mirror. The shiny shapes moved along the ceiling as he turned the mirror in his even smaller hand. He hid it under a blanket and the sparkly lights were not there. “Is he sweeping?”
Ozzie took back the mirror. The lights appeared again but briefly. Then they couldn’t find the sparkles anymore.
Timmy, their tabby cat, jumped up on the pink chair close to the children. He purred as the boys gently patted him. They put their ears to his neck listening. “Ozzie, can we see his purrer?”
“We can’t. It’s inside him and has to stay there so Timmy can purr.” They curled up to listen and be cozy with him.
Davey heard another little sound. They found the source and held their mother’s gold watch to their ears. “The ticking sound makes minutes go by maybe. When Mommy wears it, she knows what time it is,” Ozzie said.
Davey held it. “Mommy doesn’t know what time it is now. We can give it to her.”
Just then, the boys saw a flash outside their parents’ window. They ran to look out. It was a bird bringing things to its nest. They had a perfect view. The bird was sitting now. “Davey, try to be so quiet. We can watch him and maybe we can see babies.”
“Okay.” Davey moved closer to his brother and to the window. The boys stood as still as they could. Suddenly another bird appeared with a worm. The bird in the nest moved over and they sat together.
As they looked out the window, the boys could see their neighbor putting things in the back of his car. “Mr. Clancy is putting their old Christmas tree in the car and some branches too.” Ozzie had his hand on Davey’s shoulder.
“’Member Daddy did that?” Davey asked sweetly.
“Yeah, and we saw the old broken down tree house being dropped off,” Ozzie added.
“It’s the dump.”
“Me wove the dump.”
“Me too,” said Ozzie. “Hey, a bird flew away!” Now the tip of a beautiful blue egg was revealed. “I love that egg.”
“Me too, so much.”
Alice returned, holding a coffee cup. Cheerfully, she asked, “Boys, would you like to go to Percy’s for breakfast?”
In unison the children shouted, “Yes!”
“Let’s see if you two can take a quick bath. Then we’ll hop in the car.
Davey handed his mother her watch. “We want to be quick right? Will you tell us if we are?”
“Sure, I will. Let’s try to be out of the house in twenty minutes… before the big hand gets to the twelve.” She pointed to the top of the watch face.
The bathtub was already full. The boys dropped their pajamas and got in. They washed each other’s backs. Alice shampooed their hair. In no time they were dried and dressed.
The boys looked at their mother’s watch. The big hand wasn’t on the twelve yet.
Putting on her earrings, Alice smiled at her boys. “You two are amazing! Let’s go!”
“But Mommy, we have to show you what we found.”
The boys ran to the window. They could see four blue eggs. The birds were gone.
“There was a mommy bird and a daddy bird. We saw them!”
Just then one bird flew back into the nest. A few seconds later, the other one arrived.
“They are robins.” Alice explained. “Maybe they just needed to fly a bit. They have to keep the eggs warm so they will always come back quickly.
Ozzie said, “Gaga has the same birds. We saw them finding worms, right Davey?”
“On that rainy day. Me ‘member that now.”
“Thank you for showing me that. Daddy will love seeing them when he comes home.”
“And baby birds soon too!” Ozzie beamed. “Mommy, is the big hand on the twelve?
Alice showed the watch. “Exactly. Percy’s here we come!”
By giving her children time on their own, Alice allowed them the chance to just be, and explore and think. Through their own observations, rather than being given endless bits of information, the boys were able to come up with their own theories and ideas. Alice was attentive and interested in her children and yet, she let them develop their natural curiosity. The brotherly connection was effortlessly strengthened all the while.
Written by: Anne Martine Cook, Managing Partner & Mom, with 40+ years experience teaching nursery school children.
We welcome your comments and questions.