“Mom, mom, I finally found a yellow stick!! I’ve been waiting for one forever!” The prized yellow stick was cast in through the open porch door for safety and Quinn was off again, back outside in search of more treasures and bigger adventures. My boy, constantly amazing me.

There is a tree in this yard that has special sticks, they fall off as they age and get brown. They have a kind of a handle. I think Quinn has twenty of these sticks in his collection, and he knows if I move even one. I find it absolutely fascinating. He also has what we call his “weapons basket” (and this from a mom who didn’t believe in toy guns) which carries an array of guns, battle axes, lances, etc. Many are home made or adapted from Duplo blocks or playmobile or the outdoors.

Yesterday I helped him and his two friends Ben and Muroongi, fellow lovers of fantasy weaponry, construct bow and arrow sets using bendy forsythia style sticks and twine. They are loving them, just as I did when I was a kid. And today, Ashley’s question of the day at school must have been something about a favorite toy because Quinn’s page came home with these words, written in the most astoundingly perfect handwriting which I have NEVER coaxed out of him at home: “My favorite toy is a Bo and aroe. I like it bekus it is home mate.”

Meanwhile Naomi has spent another day on the couch with vomiting and diahhrea. This is her third intermittent bout this week so Jennifer came today with her malaria test. Negative which is a relief. Naomi also has a growing abscessing wound on her skinny little thigh. But she is full of her usual personality; curling her hair each night, Shirley-Temple-style and then bouncing in and out to check it in her mirror for pertness every few minutes. She has fallen in love with the movie Big Fat Greek Wedding and has watched it over and over this week during sick mornings home from school. She can’t wait for our trip to Greece next May when she experiences Greek culture in person.

Our kids teach us so much about what is true and what is false, what is safe and what is worth fearing, what is fantasy and what is reality; how to become our best selves. I’m thankful for the moments I remember to listen.