Imagination

Kambree is down for a nap so I took advantage and got some laundry done. As I took a load down to the laundry room I told Jackson to watch Kaylee and give her binkie to her if she gets sad. He was playing with dinosaurs when I left. When I came back Jackson had his dinosaurs marching back and forth in front of Kaylees chair 'protecting' her. This got me thinking of some of the conversations I have had with this little guy lately.

Last week a friend from work lost his son, who had a severe form of SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy), and could not recover from a cold he caught. Jackson was being a stinker and was freaking out when I tried to drop him off at a friends who was going to watch the kids so he came along to the viewing with me. We went and when we got back in the car Jackson asked what the boy was doing in that bed. I went on to discuss with him what had happened to this boy. How he had been sick for a long time and his body was tired and could not fight it anymore so he died. I told him how his body was still here on Earth, but his Spirit was in Heaven with Heavenly Father. We talked for a bit with Jackson saying a one or two words every so often. I felt like we had finished a deep conversation and was proud of myself as a mom for taking advantage of this teaching moment. Just seconds after I congratulated myself Jackson said, 'the bad guy killed him mom?' Minor setback. I tried again to explain and when finished Jackson looked at me and replied, 'The bad guys killed him mom, Iron man didn't save him'. So much for that meaningful conversation...

One day when I was headed to Costco with my mom Jackson shouted from the back seat something about a fish. I was confused and figured he was probably talking about some fish that my father-in-law had caught and showed him. (My father-in-law is an avid fisher.) Jackson proceeded to tell me that a fish had eaten his garbage and he needed to get his garbage back. He then said, 'You better buy me a big fishing pole so I can get my garbage back.' We had this same discussion for about an hour! I'm not sure if he was just trying to get me to buy him a fishing pole or what.

Jackson has quite the imagination now days. He is always playing some imaginary game. It's fun to see his creativity in play. Though sometimes slightly frustrating when I just need him to be Jackson for a few minutes or listen to something I really need him to hear. But usually it is just fun to watch.