Thursday – The Wishbone

[ninanevermore]

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My husband cooked a turkey yesterday afternoon (Thanksgiving Eve) so that we could take it with us to his brother's house for Thanksgiving, where bratwurst will be on the menu. My sister-in-law grew up in Germany, so the idea of traditional American Thanksgiving foods mean nothing to her. Jeff was craving tradition, and that means turkey, so he decided his only option was to cook one himself. He carved the bird up and made a point to preserve the wishbone so that our 5 year old son could partake in the wish-making ritual around it.

We asked our little Sweet Pea who he wanted to dual with, and he picked his father. He shut it eyes tightly and let us know when he was ready. Jeff, with a life experience of making wishes behind him, knew the secret to winning a wishbone dual has everything to do with where you place your thumb on the wishbone. He put his thumb low on his side of the bone and threw the contest in the direction of his little boy. They pulled, and Sweet Pea held the winning side of the bone.

"Yea! You won! Now maybe your wish will come true!" he exclaimed as he gave Sweet Pea a congratulatory hug.

"Yeah, but wishes don't come true in real life," Sweet Pea said matter-of-factly, "only on TV and in movies." Then he handed the winning bone to his father and walked away.

Jeff stared after him and shook his head.

"You know," he said, "some times he's a little too pragmatic for a 5 year old."

Indeed, but he's young yet and as the years go by I hope he will learn that while pragmatism has it's place, whimsy and serendipity are also powerful forces in the universe. I've been around a lot longer than Sweet Pea, and I've had my fair share of wishes come true, of dreams realized just when I'd given up on them, and of losing what I thought I'd wanted so I could have the opportunity to discover what I really need.

I wish everyone reading this, whether they are in a place that celebrates today as a day of giving thanks or not, a day worth being thankful for. Count your blessings. If you don't have that many, may you find more in the coming days. If your cup of blessings overflows, may you share them in many ways. Wishes can and do come true; you just have to keep an eye out to notice when they do.

Peace and blessings to you all.


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Comments

[sidneymintz.livejournal.com]

Thanks Dear, and same for you and yours

[millysdaughter.livejournal.com]

I like wishes that come true.

[neanahe.livejournal.com]

Me, too! :)

[poetlady.livejournal.com]

I agree with Sweet Pea. I am a "mean mom" who at times answers things with "Life IS hard, the sooner you learn that the better"

I know it's wrong to tell that to your 5 year old:( I feel bad that I have before.

But it IS true, all these movies and all ACT LIKE it's all waiting for you, all these happy things and sometimes....it's not. I did feel cheated as I grew up and realized all those books and movies are lies.

But maybe I need to let my kids think wishes come true. I don't know:(

[neanahe.livejournal.com]

I guess it's a matter of putting wishes in perspective.

The ability to hope and wish and dream does not mean you can't be pragmatic and practical, either. It's good to wish, if only so you can realize that wish is sort of like setting a goal. The secret to having your wishes coming true is not sitting around on your butt and waiting for them, it's setting the goal and working your way toward. But if a penny in a well, or a broken wish bone gives you the idea for a goal, that's as good as any other way of setting sites on one. And when you get the short end of the bone, or your penny bounces off the side of the well and rolls off into the grass, or some jerk says, "That first star you saw tonight and make a wish on was actually a planet - you just wished on Venus," then so what? Your wish isn't actually a wish, it's a goal, and whether you reach it or not has nothing to do with the whims of a dry bone or where you penny fell. It has everything to do with you.

Wishing for things like winning lotto tickets and knights in shining armor, admittedly, are a waste of time. But wishing for good grades is fine, so long as you still study so you can your wish to come true. Wishing for true love is good, but true love is a lot of work if you want to keep it going.

Still, I think wishing and whimsy are good for the soul. Just teach them to wish for things they can make happen, and let them know that if they want their wish to come true, they are going to have to be willing to get their hands a little dirty. This is how wishes work in the real world, when you don't live in a fairy tail.

[jenelycam.livejournal.com]

It's cute on a 5 year old though. LOL

*HUGS* I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, Nina!!