Simple Magic

We were tired after a long day.

We were all out of the house by 9 a.m., and The Poo had two hours of soccer. The Babyman got to know his third babysitter in as many weeks. We went to the mall, the bookstore and out to dinner.

The Poo was in bed when the doorbell rang, and I heard her scamper to the top of the stairs as I headed toward the front hall from my perch in the guest room.

I cast her a sideways glance, and she put her hands under her chin. “Mommy,” she pleaded. “I just want to say hello.”

At the door was our Schwann’s man, with his truck full of frozen chicken patties and ice cream bars. I planned to send him away without making a purchase, but when I opened the front door, The Poo at my heels, the sweet summer air hit me—and hypnotized me.

Our neighbors put in a flower bed today, mulch as fresh and red as a wound. The sun was at that perfect angle when the whole world looks beautiful: McMansions, ghetto streets, trailer parks and middle-class suburban tract houses all rendered equal by the gentle blue gloom.

Impulsively, I asked our delivery man for ice cream bars. Chocolate covered with caramel, did he have them?

He chatted with The Poo, telling her to go back to bed and get her rest. Over her damp curls, he winked at me and mouthed, “sorry to wake her.” I smiled in return.

I sent the girl back to her bed and paid for my treats, when something caught my eye. A yellow spot to my left. One blink, then two. I looked hard, and was rewarded: a firefly.

I started to close the door, when I suddenly yelled up the stairs:

“Kiddo, come down here again! I want to show you something.”

“Coming,” she said.

I took her hand and led her to the porch, both of us in our pajamas. Sit here, I said. Watch carefully, I said. What do you see?

I see it! I see it, Mama!

We sat, holding hands and in our bare feet, counting the glowing spots and laughing with wonder.

The chores and the work and the have-tos and the must-haves melted away as I sat with my first-born, on a rough concrete porch, basking in the simple magic of her childhood.