Most of you are familiar with my nephews here in Iceland. And partial as this might sound, they are amazing. Each so very different from the other. The smallest one is Gretar. He is four and a few days ago when I was babysitting the little tornadoes, he was eyeing me from afar as I was making dinner. He kept looking at me and I could tell something was going on with him. When I noticed, my mind started racing and my thought process was along the lines of "Oh my God, what´s he done now?"

I turned around, drying towel in one hand, bracing myself for the bad news I was about to receive, reminding myself to hold on to sanity, when I slowly asked him: "If there´s anything you want to tell me, Gretar...now would be a good time!"
He looked at me and shaked his head and slowly walked out of the kitchen. I went after him, got him ready for bed and as he was lying there he kept starring at me. I told him it was ok to tell me; if he smashed something or lost another pair of boots somewhere outside...it was ok.

He pulled my head closer to his and said: "I want to tell you a secret- just between us." I promised and he said: "Monika, there is magic in our garden outside." Puzzled I looked at him, pondering everything from too many Harry Potter viewings, to delusion all the way to what the heck did I put in tonight´s dinner. When he noticed my perplexity he elaborated: "You remember when we put those onions down a long time ago? They turned into flowers. Onions turn into flowers in our garden!"

He had such a glee on his face...Gretar doesn´t like onions -the type you eat- he loves flowers and magic, so it was a double win for him. Poor chap thought that the bulbs we put into the earth in the Spring (looking like onions to him!) would turn into those bitter things that make one cry.

I hugged him and thanked him for letting me in on this, I also decided that this would be a good moment to introduce him to the concept of fairies and elves. He fell asleep with his glee fully intact.

Labels: family