Wooed by Wonder

I was in a retail store recently and had to use the facilities, as they say. Behind the stall wall I heard a young boy and a woman who sounded to be of grandmotherly age. Then a whooshing noise, a gasp of delight, and a crunching of a young soul:

“It’s not a miracle. It’s just soap.”

Whipped Cream at the Wave of a Hand

Oh, but to this boy, soap was a miracle! It came out like whipped cream – and at the wave of a hand! Apparently, he had not experienced this form of hand cleanser before and he was enthralled!

“It’s not a miracle. It’s just soap.”

The words pierced my homeschool heart, and I wanted to scoop the little boy up and tell him whipped cream soap is a miracle!

History of Soap

Throughout many ages in the history of humanity if cleansing whipped cream had appeared from a plastic box at the wave of hand, they would have claimed magic was afoot! Ponder Alexander the Great with his stinky troops or Hannibal with his elephants. What would they have thought? I’m certain miracle soap would have been on their home shopping lists! Imagine their report to the home front, “Wow, honey! You’ll never believe what we used after the battle!”

“Wow, honey! You’ll never believe what we used after the battle!”

Oh Adults, Keep Wondering

Oh adults, keep wondering, keep being amazed by what your children are in awe over.

I know, it’s tiring to get revved up every time your little one – or big one – makes a discovery, but muster a mite more energy to pause and wonder with them. It will be good for your soul. And theirs. What to us holds no wonder is a wonder to a child. Wonder with them.

Feed the Wonder

• We can feed the wonder with our edu-choices or we can can it like so many sardines.
• We can feed the wonder of history or science – the science of soap, even – or we can drum it into our child’s brains so that they will turn away from rather than toward future discoveries.
• We can feed our children’s sense of wonder at the heart of God, feeding their love of the Word, a gift of diving deeply into the waters of discipleship. Or we can cram it in as form of parental penance.

Wouldn’t you rather be wooed by wonder than crushed by contempt?