Wednesday, September 26, 2012

The Genie in the Lamp and the Meaning of Life

While organizing interview responses today, I began considering the depth of human emotion and became, understandably, introspective.

To lighten the mood, I set seriousness aside and played dress-up with my daughters. One transformed Kaine-dog into the evil Jafar and herself into Aladdin. The other changed into a more devious version of Princess Jasmine, and working overtime, I switched on and off between the Sultan of Agrabah and...the genie in the lamp.

After an hour of granting wishes, we flew our magic carpet to the family table for a snack break.

The evil, and ever so tolerant, Jafar
While slicing up strawberries, I thought about the wishes my eldest had asked Genie Mom to grant- to play with her best friend, to visit a cave, to go roller skating. Her answers made me smile. Then I wondered what it would be like to interview a kid, a little pipsqueak with raw honesty and an innocent perspective.

So I mustered up the most complex question in the whole wide world and launched it at my 3-year-old daughter.

Me: Hey kid?
Kiddo: Huh?
Me: What is the meaning of life?
Kiddo: Tell me. What is it?
Me: No. I'm asking YOU. What is the meaning of life?
Kiddo: Oh. (long pause) Love? Yeah. Love.

Wow.

And there you have it. I think I'm going to start interviewing children. Maybe next time, they should play all-powerful genies in the lamp. These kids sure have made all of my wishes come true.
XOXO From My Hearth to Yours

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