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Thursday, October 9, 2008

Blue Whales and Bubbles




Sharks, jellyfish, blowfish and bubble bottles. Baby Boy sat in a sea of bubble trouble, content to inhale large amounts of oxygenated silliness as they tickled his nose and made him laugh. Water running. Bubbles bubbling. Playing. Splashing. Imaginating. Total abandon. Joy.
"Look, Mimi! as the google-eyed fish swirled under the foamy pile of suds, "He's gonna drown! The other fishes can't save him!" and then, of course, he dived in to rescue his rubber fish friends. All was well in SuperBubble Man's world once again.


They sloshed and galoshed under the faucet. I had a nice long talk with the blue whale about what BabyBoy wants to be when he grows up (I'm guessing Marine Biologist). He talked back and we had a lively sudsy frolic. We were having a marvelous bath time!

And just when I thought we'd so
lved No Fish Left Behind..... Baby Boy's shark began to argue with the green google-eyed blowfish.
Arrrhhhhgg! Arrrrrghhhhhgggdddd! roared my sweet little boy as they tumbled in the milky fray.

It wasn't a peaceful sound at all.

"You don't want them to fight, do you?
If you're not careful, Baby Boy, they'll end up in a war."

Splashing ceased. He stopped playing. I've never seen such a puzzled look. I could see the wheels turning in his mind ....did I do something wrong, Mimi?....
Staring at me with suds on his face he asked,



"What's a war?"




Oh God.
I didn't want to tell him.

He's four. Every moment of his blessed little existence has been without knowing. He has no frame of reference for hell.
Why did I want to give him one now? How could I ruin his innocent play with the ugly truth? What would I say?

It was not about my answer at all.
But his question.

I was absolutely spellbound. I did not want to break it.
I wanted to freeze it. Forever.
I did not want to look away.

So I took a moment. Or two. Then another.... and another...because it was so beautiful in those eyes that never saw war.......wondering what it would be like to exist in a world where the question is answered only in history books and not with the hopeless reality of children drowning in deserts and playing with bombs. I took a good long gaze and I prayed and I willed it to be so because I tell you it was true that moment. It was not a naivete I witnessed in those deep blue waters of his, but a moment of reality - his world knew nothing else - and I craved it. I saw it. I wanted it. In the suds and the bubbles with wayward whales and beautifully innocent stares - there was a grace that came. And in the trusting, questioning eyes of my blue-eyed boy who loves me as purely and completely as I have ever known, I knew he'd brought a gift just for me. Today.


And I, without apology, soaked in the silence of unadulterated peace.
One precious bubble at a time.



So we talked about getting along and being kind and why the blue shark shouldn't beat up on the blowfish and how sometimes things get out of hand and you can't go back to the peaceful bubbles ever ever again.....or at least for a very long time.
Because he asked me.
Because he trusts me....
I told him the truth.

And when it was told I wanted to wash him all over again.


Not this generation or the next or the next. But someday. There will be a blue-eyed bubbly child who asks the question....

and the answer will be different.




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17 comments:

Queen-Size funny bone said...

Beautiful words and beautiful photo. Very sobering.

Vinny "Bond" Marini said...

Holy Smoley...this one got me Mimi...

Have I told you recently what a BRILLIANT writer you are?

Charles Gramlich said...

If people would just look at their kids and think about how much they love them we wouldn't have wars.

Akelamalu said...

I pray so hard for that day Mimi. x

bundle-o-contradictions said...

Oh, Mimi.

Ferd said...

At what point does our pure, childhood innocence begin to disappear? Is it with the stress of relationships in school? Is it with not liking to have to follow rules and orders? When do our feelings of anger kick in? And I believe some of us feel more anger than others, as an inherited trait. I think boys are naturally more aggressive than girls. When I think about that, when I see innocent children naturally making one toy fight or conflict with another, it makes me think that this is a normal, natural part of life.

I can't imagine a world without stress or conflict. We are all too different. What I want to imagine is a world where we are able to resolve our differences, meet half way, compromise, stuff like that, without resorting to violence.

Thanks for this thoughtful post, Mimi. I'll meditate some more on this.

Sandee said...

What Bond said. Beautiful honey. As always. Big hug and lotsa lovies. :)

Anonymous said...

M'lady...you do have a way with words. Beautifully written.

kenju said...

Mimi, this is very special and beautifully written! I hope the answer can be different very soon.

Mimi Lenox said...

Queen - Thank you for that. That boy is something else.

Bond - My encourager and friend you are. Thank you.

Charles - It really is that simple.

Akelamalu - I do too.

Autumn - Sometimes my Baby Boy posts upset you. Are you ok?

Mimi Lenox said...

Ferd - I don't know where or when the innocence goes. I just want to freeze frame it.

Sandee - Thank you and hugs back to you.

Bud - I appreciate that.

Lee - You are a stellar writer as well. But thanks.

Kenju - Hope is a powerful thing.

Crushed said...

I think it will be the generation after next, I do.

Because I think the World government isn't far away now.

bundle-o-contradictions said...

After reading yours, this is what I had to get out of my system. If you wander around, following "children" tags, you might get a gist of why I am the way I am. Mostly, though, it's the way you write. Sometimes I can't help but feel it deeply. No worries. *brave smile*

Travis Cody said...

Sometimes you take all the breath out of me. And I mean that in every way you can think of.

Mimi Lenox said...

Autumn - I have been worried about you. I will read now.

Mimi Lenox said...

Travis - No words.... I love knowing that you hear what I write.

Julie said...

Have you seen tears in a bowl of mac-n-cheese recently?

**pushes bowl closer to laptop**

My God Mimi....

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