Do You Believe In Magic?

And I hope you do!

This song always brings to mind the 1980’s McDonalds commercial with Ronald McDonald and friends singing and  suggesting that a simple experience like eating at McDonalds can make your life magical. I always liked that commercial – the tune was catchy, the costumes were great and it just made me smile. It took on a new meaning today.

My 6 year old is obsessed with magic. I don’t mean she likes it. I mean she is obsessed. She has shirts with narwhals and unicorns flying through clouds together. She writes letters to her Tooth Fairy. She is constantly asking her Opa to show her magic tricks and she loves watching Penn and Teller’s Fool Us on television. She believes that she is partly magical and her father and I have done nothing to make her think otherwise.

Today when I picked her up from school she proudly told me that she had used her magic at school today. I was interested in what had happened so I asked the natural question, “So, you showed your friends some of your magic tricks today?” She proudly responded that no, she didn’t do any tricks, she actually did magic and it worked. I was curious, so I asked her what happened that was so magical. The story she told me blew me away.

Apparently some of her classmates had a bad morning. As a teacher, I understand that this can stem from all sorts of issues from not getting breakfast at home, arguing with siblings, just the fact that it’s Monday, a full moon, etc. All she knew was that they were having a bad day. I asked her, “How did your magic help them?” She told me this: “Well, I knew they were having a bad day, so I told them I wished their day got better and I told everyone else at school that they needed to think really hard about having a good day while I said it. And I poofed my hand like I had a wand. And you know what? Their day got better! It worked! Everyone was nicer to them for the rest of the day. My magic spell worked!”

I bet it did, Baby Girl. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that her simple act of making others aware of the issue probably caused them to be kinder to these other students. I didn’t tell her that sometimes you just need someone to listen to you to make your day better. I didn’t tell her how many times a kind word or a smile has turned one of my bad days around. And I don’t need to. She worked her own kind of magic. Kindness towards others is a special kind of magic that I wish we were all witness to more often.

I’m always amazed at the life lessons I learn from my children. She is convinced that she performed magic at school today, and in a way, she did. I know that her story made me smile. If you come upon someone who is not having their best day, maybe this post will inspire you to do a little magic of your own. Maybe when someone offers you a kind word or a smile, you will remember this post and feel a little more magical. And if you don’t believe in magic, maybe now you do. I hope you believe in this kind of magic!

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”

~Aesop