December 19 – “Ollo Kiara”

I got to spend some quality DadDad time with Cailyn yesterday while Chris actually took a nap.  That in itself is quite amazing (the nap, I mean).  We did have two nights where Mom slept all the way from eleven or so to around eight, but she’s back to her wandering ways again.  So a nap is always a welcome thing, though Chris rarely takes advantage of it. 

During our time together Cailyn and I went outside.  In the back yard we sat around the outdoor furniture table and blew bubbles for a long time.  Great thing about bubbles: they never do the same thing twice, so every breath is a new experience, literally.  Great way to approach life, too.  From bubbles we went up on the deck.  Caily first practiced her ninja skills, jumping into the air and landing in a different ready position while maintaining her balance on some bricks.  Then we sat down on those bricks and had a birthday party – mine.  She lit the imaginary candles while walking around an imaginary table … three times.  I commented that there must be a lot of candles on the cake, and she replied, “Well, how old are you, DadDad?”  I told her I was 59 years old.  “Hmm,” she pondered, “Fifty-nine.  I can do that.”  So she went back to her imaginary storeroom and made three more trips around the table.  Ouch.  I enjoyed it when she sang to me, though.  “Happy birthday to DadDad” resounded about 59 times before she finally hit the “Happy birthday to you” ending.  I asked if I could taste some icing and pretended to take a swipe with my finger.  Not a good idea.  I was soundly reprimanded, and she had to remove all the candles and re-ice the whole thing.  And yes, she put all the candles back and I had to blow them all out again.  I’ll never sample the icing again. 

We moved to the front yard where she decided it was time to sit in the shade of the parked car and take a break.  I’m all about taking breaks these days.  And during this interlude I learned two important things.  First, she agreed to review for me what it was that she wanted for Christmas.  She has been pretty secretive about it.  She has already told Santa, so she feels like it would be redundant to tell us as well.  But there was one thing that has just too great an appeal.   She wants a horse that is real that has pink icing and diamond sparklies and really long hair down her back.  OK, Santa.  Glad you got that one.  The second revelation was much more interesting.  She told me about her imaginary friend.  I was confused at first, because she started talking about Kiara, and there is a little girl she plays with at church by that name.  I asked if that was who she meant, and she explained.  “No, DadDad.  Her name is Ollo (pronounced owe-low) Kiara, but we just call her Kiara.  She’s mean to me all the time so I don’t bring her to my room.  She’s my sister.  She lives at my house and she’s at home now.”  Well, now, that was a mouthful.  I gently pressed for more details, but she had moved on to another subject.  “Why you want to talk about someone who is not even here, DadDad?  I told you she was at my home.”  Ah, so much for delving into the “real world” of a three-year-old. 

Psalms 48:1 says, “Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain.”

Father, your greatness is clear to see in the mountains, but even more so in the imagination of a three-year-old.  Amen.