Lessons From My Daughter: The Night Ninja

“Shhhh Mummy be quiet! We’ve got to find the NIGHT NINJA…”

“Oh okay..well where do you think he/she is?”

“I saw a lot of foot prints and I went all around, I checked in the garden then I cleaned the carpet and then I went outside again.. “ *by cleaned the carpet, -just to clarify- she means she picked all her toys up and placed them on the sofa so I could hoover, she’s not on her hands and knees scrubbing at some stain; that would be me. 

So we ventured outside, and I became curious about this night ninja:
Me: “What happened after you saw the night ninja footprints?”
“I was jumping on the rug, then Stephie doll was jumping on my scooter, then on my bike…”

*walking around outside…*

Me: “So we haven’t found the night Ninja?”
“No.”
“Where might it be?”
“I just don’t know.”
“Maybe in the garden somewhere?”
“Yeh….Mummy!! I saw him!! Up. The trees! Wearing black…”
“What did he look like??!”
“Dark, blue, and more dark blue and he’s wearing purple ninjarinoos and ninja sticky splats; for grabbing the PJ masks and then gekko grabs his cape back!!”
“Ah…I see..”

Now I know she got the idea of the night ninja from PJ masks or some other Tiny Pop show, but I was still impressed with her level of commitment to the search. The way she spoke, the focus, the belief. In her mind; there 100% was a night ninja on the loose in our garden and we absolutely had to search for it. And for a split second, I imagined something in the trees too. It was all genuinely exciting; for a few minutes I was very much in her imaginary world.

It reminded me of my childhood; playing make-believe, creatures in the trees and imaginary characters.

It reminded me of a time when I believed in magic. 

I remember a friend telling me if we dug deep enough into the ground, in my back garden, we could dig our way to Australia. An image entered my mind of us landing in a small bustling town, people everywhere, and us dropping in; all sweaty from hours of digging. We dug for as long as we could before nightfall. Sadly not an Aussie in sight by dinner time.

My little preview of what’s to come with Maia’s blossoming imagination only reminded me that we can learn a lot from small children.

They’re present; always in the moment.
They’re creative and -when they’re very little- don’t judge their own ideas, their own work, they’re not hard on themselves.
And they’re connected to the power of make-believe. – In that which cannot be seen.