For this Mental Health Monday post, I chose to share the random story I created while playing with my son. My son’s energy is unmatched. This child is like the energizer bunny and just keeps going until sleep is forced upon him.
My energy level is tragic. After working a full-time job, managing our home, and dealing with the existential dread of every day, I have very little energy to put towards being the best mom I can for my son.
My son was in the middle of his nightly allotted time to be on the iPad. I was using that time to scroll TikTok and avoid doing anything productive. He then came to sit with me and pulled out these tiny ball poppers we found at Walmart. There are about six little animals that have a giant hole in their mouth to shoot the yellow balls out they came with. They’re super dope, I’m not going to lie.
He seemed really focused on getting me to play with him and while I absolutely had no energy to do so, I put down my phone and tried my best to engage. We spent time shooting the balls across the room, and then he started asking for us to “make them talk.”
Anytime we play with toys I typically give them silly voices and create random scenarios for him. I felt like sharing this one because the story line is cute, and my son started adding random parts to it as well. It brought me so much joy to see his imagination engage and I had no idea how impactful these little stories were becoming for him. I added a few extra things to make the story flow for the internet but for the most part this is it:
Once upon a time…
There existed a magical Christmas tree. It stood in the middle of a dense forest in the North Pole. What made this tree so magical is its ability to grow cookies. The most common cookies would be there, like chocolate chip, sugar, peanut butter, and oatmeal raisin.
However, if you asked the tree for a different cookie, it would appear within seconds. The tree never ran out of cookies.
The Christmas Cookie Tree or CCT was Duck and Cow’s favorite place. They would venture into the forest everyday to grab a cookie on their lunch break.
One day, Duck and Cow followed the well-worn path only to find all the trees now looked identical. The typical shimmer from the CCT was nowhere to be found. They circled the area for a few minutes to be sure they weren’t lost.
No one knew the area better than Duck and Cow. They immediately left to go find Santa.
They ran to Santa’s workshop and burst in the front door, startling elves, reindeer, and Santa.
“Santa! Santa!” they shouted in unison.
Duck and Cow immediately let Santa, and everyone else in the room with how loud they exclaimed their news, know about the bare CCT.
One of the elves reported they saw the Cranky lizard in the forest the day before. The cranky lizard is a known wizard who became a lizard when a spell went wrong. Duck and Cow immediately sought out the Cranky lizard’s home.
When they reached the cranky lizard’s home, they asked about the CCT. The cranky lizard started cackling and admitted to taking away the tree’s magic. When Duck and Cow asked why, the cranky lizard did not know. Duck and Cow noticed how sad the cranky lizard seemed. They begged for the cranky lizard to give the tree back its magic.
The cranky lizard said the tree would only be restored if they all went to see a movie together. Duck and Cow agreed. At the movies, they all got popcorn, candy, pretzels, and drinks. They saw Jurassic World and had so much fun.
After the movie, the cranky lizard thanked Duck and Cow and said the CCT’s magic would be restored. He then turned and walked away. Duck and Cow noticed again how sad the cranky lizard seemed. Duck and Cow asked the cranky lizard to hang out again and they all became best friends.
The Christmas Cookie Tree’s magic was restored, and the cranky lizard started joining Duck and Cow on their daily visits for cookies. Duck and Cow also convinced Santa to help the cranky lizard with a spell that would turn him back into a regular wizard.
The end…
Let me share the parts of the story added in by my son:
- He stated the tree should grow cookies.
- He asked for the characters to be duck and cow (those were the two animal poppers I was holding and we’re not super creative with names yet, haha)!
- He changed it from a cranky wizard to cranky lizard (he heard lizard instead of wizard and chuckled so hard, I changed it to lizard, and it turned out fun)!
- He chose the movie they saw and chose Jurassic World.
- He stated the cranky lizard left the movie sad and assumed they didn’t want to be his friend (might need to get my kid into therapy lol).
This world does a great job of sucking the energy out of us. Our kids are wise and likely notice more than we’d like them to, but they also notice the small things that we do for them, and it means so much more than we could ever imagine. I took the love I have of creating stories and now realize it’s passing on to my son. What more could a mother ask for?
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We are struggling with so much every day. I am here to be an advocate for mental health and helping others. If you’re struggling with an internal battle, just know, I am here with you! My website/blog and social media page are safe places! Share your dreams and your struggles. Life isn’t easy but you’re doing great!
Ariel Pierce 