A CHILD'S WHISPER

'Mama, I have a girlfriend' Sage whispered in my ear as I kissed him goodnight. 'Oh, you do', I replied. He continued to tell me her name is Taylor and she is nice. He mentioned they play rock, paper, scissors on the playground. Today they played Simon Says. My boy has a kind heart and I have no doubt he will grow into a kind young man one day.

Yesterday I tripped over slippers coming in from the garage. Sage held the door open for me and noticed my stumbling. 'Are you okay mama?', he asked in his gentle tone as he placed his hand on my arm. His sincerity was apparent as was his sympathy. My little boy is growing up before my eyes.

Today both children took to reading. I was surprised to see Sage read. Or at least attempt to. His letter recognition greatly improved from before I left to Germany. Cinnamon's reading astounds me. This afternoon she read two chapter books in the Magic Treehouse series.

Sage saw me photograph his sister whilst she was reading. He walked over to their colourful puzzle bookshelf and grabbed a book as he instructed me to photograph him 'reading'. It's fascinating watching my children grow from the crying babies in the crib into young people with thoughts of their own.

I can still remember placing various hats I made for my shop onto Sage's little head whilst I photographed him. I also remember him sleeping soundly hour after hour in the Baby Einstein portable playard next to me as I knitted one hat after another in my study.

My babies are no longer babies albeit I still refer to them as such. They have their own thoughts on why something is or isn't. Sometimes it makes sense. Other times it does not. As I wished Cinnamon good night, she also whispered something in my ear... 'I will never forget you. Remember that.'

Children have the ability to make us stop and think about something in a way which we would otherwise not have thought. But only if we take time to listen to their whispers and realise they are capable of more than we can imagine.