Proposal Quest Final Draft

Shannon Groves
Composition 105
Lauren Rice

A Magical Quest

“That’s the thing with magic. You’ve got to know it’s still here, all around us, or it just stays invisible for you”-Charles de Lint. Catching snowflakes on your tongue, watching the sunset, witnessing a shooting star, the laughter of a child, the smell of fresh rain, hearing the ocean’s wave in a seashell. Slow down, focus on the moment and you will find the beauty that is waiting to be encountered. Children are constantly affected by everyday magic, as they are experiencing the little joys in life for the first time. For the next thirty days, I’m going slow down with my son and help him to experience the everyday magic of his childhood through creativity and expanding his imagination. Each day we will do something creative, whether big or small, for at least thirty minutes to make his childhood magical.

Sitting in a hospital waiting room, I had the pleasure of talking to one extraordinary mother. Upon discovering that she had polycystic ovary syndrome, she adopted a child from Russia. She did everything she could to make her little girl’s childhood as magical as possible. She began reminiscing with me and one memory stood out from all the rest. She had told me that one night after she had worked a long shift at work; her daughter told her that stuffed animals were hungry. Even though she was tired and the housework needed to be finished, she stopped and made tea and cookies so they could have a tea party with all of her stuffed animals and dolls.

Listening to this mother’s story was amazing. It gave me a warm feeling that made my heart smile. It brought back a flood of childhood memories of finger painting on the sidewalk with my father and the day my father cleared out the garage, carried in six old elementary school desks that he had found sitting on the side of the road,  so that I could play school with all my baby dolls. How wonderful would it be to have the time to do the same type of thing for my own child? It’s a well known fact that children thrive off of a doting parent’s attention, but I’d like to delve in further than that. I’d like to expand his horizon, help him to grow and to learn and to give him unique experiences. I vow to embark on a journey of creativity with my child.

Each day we will embark on a new journey on our quest to find childhood magic. We will finger paint, play mind enriching activities and I will take the time out to really get to know my child’s personality. We will also do activities that will stimulate his senses and teach him life skills. The goal is to do something every day to make him smile. To spend a little extra time with him every day that I would otherwise be spending on chores or schoolwork, and in the end creating a lifetime of memories that he can one day tell to his grandchildren.

My rules will include, first to spend at least thirty extra minutes with my son a day. Second, we must engage in an activity that will stimulate his brainpower and imagination by using creative activities to bring out his individual interests. Third, we cannot repeat the same activity two days in a row.

I think my success rate will be one-hundred percent. I believe my son will thrive off of the newly gained attention and interest, therefore improving his behavior and well being. The hardest part of the whole quest will be to create new activities to inspire him each day. I will have to draw inspiration from the internet, books, and the help of a few close friends who are also mothers.

This quest will be a definite challenge. As of right now, my son is thirteen months old, and I’m not quite sure how I’ll come up with creative ideas that will get his imagination going, as well as to open his eyes to the small pleasures in life. I’m going to have to learn to balance the housework, full-time schoolwork and creating unique experiences for my son each day. It’s time to make more time out for my child. Perhaps this will create an opportunity to improve his behavior and self-confidence. I hope that through this experience, we can eliminate the amount of tantrums my son has in a day.