Imagination

As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters. Seneca
From a commencement speech at Harvard by J.K. Rowling.

Raccoon loves to pretend play with me and his four other faithful friends - Fina (a large girl puppet), Mr. Bear (a stuffed animal), Andy (a boy cabbage patch doll), and Buzz Lightyear. He tells me what he wants each one to say, but for some reason, he wants me to say it and not him. But lately, I have seen the seeds of imagination growing and he is beginning to make his toys talk when he's by himself. He's also started doing a running dialogue during the rare moments when he plays alone. It is amazingly wonderful and a little heartbreaking all at the same time. He's growing up. He won't always need me to be a central figure in his imaginary world.

I have been living in toddler world for a very long time and it's hard for me to imagine that Raccoon is eventually not going to be a toddler anymore. There will be a day in the future when I can sleep through the night, when he will be able to go to the bathroom by himself, and when he will spend most of his day away from me. I want some of these things, but at the same time, his father and I are his whole world right now, and that is a special place to be.