Treasure Hunting

 Last week, Beckett’s friend from down the street asked him to come over to play. Before that, the two have always just played in our yard. 

The moment his friend asked him, the feet of my once-cautious child had already started down the driveway to this new place, his head barely looking over his shoulder for approval before he was out of sight. Down the hill they went, leaving Nathan and me just staring at each other, dumbfounded at the moment of boldness that just happened.

He returned home hours later with sparkly eyes and a toothy grin, regaling us with their adventures. 

A few days later, we were at an indoor water park for spring break. Nathan and I were taking turns plummeting down the huge water slides with Beckett. A few hours into our visit, he ran into a friend from school. Next thing we knew, he was asking us if he could go down the water slide without us. His feet already moving toward the slide, his head barely looking over his shoulder for approval before he was out of sight. Off they went, leaving Nathan and me just staring at each other, dumbfounded that our once-cautious child kicked us to the curb.

He emerged from the water slide a few minutes later with those same sparkly eyes and that toothy grin.

This was fresh on my mind this week when we read the magical picture book Oona by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Raissa Figueroa. Oona was a feisty, brave, treasure-hunting mermaid who lived in the ocean with her best friend, Otto the sea otter. Oona discovered a crown lodged in a chasm that piqued her interest. After several failed attempts, Oona moved on to other less exciting, non-treasure hunting ventures. But, DiPucchio said, “she was missing her spark, and a mermaid without her spark is like a seagull without an appetite. Unnatural.” Seeing this, Otto tried to cheer her up with a new shell, which she used to help her successfully get the crown.

Beckett’s acts of boldness reminded me just how important friends are to nudge us to find our spark. Like Oona, we need someone to help us treasure hunt so that we can return with sparkly eyes and toothy grins. Because a person without bold, new adventures is just...unnatural. 

#oona

#kellydipucchio