All my life, any chance I get, I make a wish. Pennies in wishing wells, candles in churches, four-leaf clovers and wish-balls. My first recollection of wishing happened upon a star. I can still remember as a little girl eagerly awaiting that first twinkle so I could close my eyes and make my precious wish. I recall wishing my parents would let me paint my bedroom magenta. Wishing with all my might that I would get my “period” like all my other friends. I used up a ton of wishes on hoping to be “asked out” or for the phone to ring. Oh, and all the wishes spent on passing all those exams.
As I have gotten older (and possibly wiser) my wishes have changed. Now I wish for things like cures for cancer, healing friends who have broken hearts, slowing down time, keeping my children safe at college while ridding the world of senseless violence. Oh, and an end to my $%#*& hot flashes!
I treasure each annual wishing tradition as well. Everyone knows about the birthday cake wish, but in our home we also get a cutting the cake wish too! The magical Leprechaun wish only happens on St. Patrick’s Day, when you find a trace of his gold dust! Oh and the Angel wish when we place her atop our Christmas tree.
My theory is you can never have too many wishes … ever! Which might explain why some of these wishing opportunities might seem odd to you. Yes, I may be guilty of possibly dreaming a few of them up, like the Train Wish. When we lived in Michigan it was a common aggravation to be driving along and then see those red train crossing lights flash and we'd have to come to a complete stop and wait. So, if we happened to be that first “lucky” car that had to stop, everyone in the car got to make a wish! Problem solved!
As a football coach's wife/mom, there are not enough stars in the sky for all the wishes I have. Either hoping to sell our home or find the perfect new home. For the kids to make new friends on that first day of school or to find someone who can properly cut and more importantly color my hair. To find a trustworthy babysitter and, of course, let’s not get fired and please can we WIN!
Call me crazy, but desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures. My husband was working in Florida as we were living apart, struggling for months to sell our home in a plummeting Michigan real estate market. I’d done it all; left warm homemade treats for every showing, placed St. Christopher in our front yard, Feng Shuied the heck out of our home-- but nothing. So when a dear friend suggested we enlist the help of magical fairies we did just that! My kids and I bought a white bird cage and decorated it with dollhouse furniture. We then wrote them a note about helping us find the perfect family to buy and care for our home so we could move and be a family again. We closed their door and then placed the home high above the cabinet in our laundry room so others might not well … think we were crazy. The very next day we had a nice family make a reasonable offer. When I went to say “thank you” to the fairies their door was wide open. And no, there is no way the kids could have possibly climbed up there. And yes the fairies move with us—every single time!
Credit goes out to my daughter for turning her precious Polly Pockets into fairies, many, many years ago!
Moral: Keeping your mind open presents all kinds of different options.
your wishing friend,
A little thing I wish I had done: I wish I had kept a Wish Journal for my children. It would have been so simple. Each night either I would write their wish down or they would if they could. What a wonderful way to capture their journey from child to adulthood.
Bathroom Redo Update: I have decided to cover the wall behind our toilet with my favorite wood of all time--pallet wood! So if you can’t find me, I’m just driving around town hunting for free pallets.