“Well, Mommy what spell do you want” Goldi says in her angel wings and magic wand.  Waving and twirling, she confidently grants my wish with her own magic spell. She talks and acts like a child.

“Will you please pile the pillows for the pea to go under.” Goldi says grabbing her favorite satin lined blanket.  “There! Now, I must pass the test.” she declares referring to the Princess and the Pea story. She imagines and dreams like a child.

“Mom, tell Santa not to come tonight. Mrs. Claus can come instead. ”  she states. She draws up her covers and will not close her eyes until her request is certainly granted. She reasons and thinks like a child.

Goldi is nearly seven years into her childhood.  Her thinking, speaking, and reasoning are childish.  Each and everyday, she is a walking, talking, pretending, child.

Lucky for me Goldi is delayed. Yes, I said lucky. Because of her delay, Goldi will have a childhood. She will have time to play, pretend, storytell, imagine, be silly,  be innocent, and dream. She will have time to be a child. We will see to that.

Without her childhood, there would be no play, no dreams, no laughter. Without her childhood, there would be no innocence and no memories of endearment. She  needs her childhood to equip herself for the complications of adulthood. She needs her childhood to shape her and mold her to the masterpiece God is molding even now. She needs her childhood to humble us, the adults, and realize we have so much to learn and are still growing as well.

Goldi’s delay is unlucky too. This Hurry up World  is attempting to erase the child in childhood.  Hurry has had a lot of influence. Hurry and get that child’s name on the list of hockey players because it’s the begining of an academic letter for college. Hurry and read a chapter book.  Preferrably at the end of kindergarten so that you could maybe just skip first grade. Hurry up and learn your times tables so that  you can take advanced calculus in 4th grade. Some children are so gifted. They can do all those things at such a young age. Hurry up helped them along. Go figure.

Hurry came from out of nowwhere. Perhaps since the launching of Sputnick. Perhaps because the empty nest syndrome has run havoc. Perhaps since the age of technology. But it’s there and it’s not for Goldi.

Hurry says there is no room for play.  Instead, it says get involved in soccer, dance, football, piano lessons, science class, hockey, running club, and anything that spells activities instead of play.  Play is Goldi’s prerequisite to work.  So Goldi is acting out fairy tales with different customes. She’s making birthday soup with food coloring. She’s playing hide and seek with her dad. She’s playing tree doctor in the woods.

Hurry says don’t wait. The time is now.  So give them an X box, or take them to a PG movie.   We’ve always been mindful of appropriate timing.  She’s learning Nursery Rhyme songs. She’s seen G movies at home. We’ve waited on video games. We’ve not taken her to exciting, whistle and bell places.

Hurry has a voice. It’s a lippy, mouthy, and way over the head.voice.  Did you ever hear Hurry’s microphone talk through the mouth of a child? It might sound something like:  “Don’t mess with my fingernails, I just had them painted and  they are ready for my trip to Florida. I want to look pretty.” We try to silence Hurry by watching  DVD’s chosen very carefully instead of TV. We watch what we discuss as adults in front of our kids.  We explain things like how it rains, or what happens to garbage  in easy to understand vocabulary.   We are not lippy towards her and she follows suit.

“Could we please make a swimming pool for me so I can practice being a mermaid?” She asks. She pretends and dreams.

“Let’s have a book picnic with lollypops!” She announces on Saturday. She creates and plays.

“Once upon a time, there was a girl named Lilly,” she starts. Goldi stories.

Goldi is a child. She thinks, reasons, and acts like a child. At the right time, she’ll give up her childish ways, strengthened and well equipped for adulthood.  Then again, Goldi is a child. A child of the Heavenly Father, who will ask her to come as a child and live with Him forever.