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Saturday, July 30, 2005

Magic comes home

I was catching up on a bit of work on my laptop this morning when it dawned on me that the Discovery astronauts were conducting their first spacewalk of the STS-114 space shuttle mission. So I did what any modern-day geek with a broadband connection does: I loaded up NASA-TV in a new window, moved it to the corner of my screen, and continued to work while the otherworldly scene played out in front of me.

I called our two youngest munchkins over to see. They oohed and aahed as they asked a rapid-fire series of questions:
  • "How can they breathe in space?"
  • "Why do they have to go outside?"
  • "How did they get outside? Did it let the space stuff into the space shuttle?"
  • "Hello! Hellooooooo"
After the last one, I had to explain to our soon-to-be-five-year-old that they can't hear us from the kitchen table. With that, they settled in and watched the chaotic video from one of the astronaut's helmet cams for about another minute.

The viewing didn't last long. Almost as quickly, they were getting up to leave. "This is boring," uttered Noah as he scooted back to his Shrek DVD.

The magic lasted all of three minutes, but it was just enough for them to have a glimpse of another world before they went back to the comfort of their own.

Your turn: What's magical to you? To your kids? How do you know when something actually is magical?

11 comments:

  1. they don't get that it's real, do they? the space shuttle thing. my four year old watched but he can't grasp that it's really up there, in space, doing space things. he was impressed but same as he would be if it were staged. still the opportunity to teach him something he didn't know before was there and he did learn so that's good :)

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  2. when I was little I couldn't figure out how people got inside the tv sets!
    Michele sent me today...but I stop by regularly

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  3. Hi there! Michele sent me!

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  4. Hi there! Michele sent me!

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  5. Hello, Michele sent me!

    lol What a cutie, thinking he could talk to them! I guess that showed--even if for just a second--that he was intrigued by that other world! ;)

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  6. what i find magical with my girls is when the advice i've been giving them or encouragement finally sinks in and a light bulb goes off. eureka!

    hi from michele

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  7. With a 22 year old, it's hard to find things magical anymore...I miss the days when I could explain chocolate milk as coming from brown cows.

    Magic today is watching him take a script and bring it to life on stage. I suppose the table are turned; instead of me introducing new things to him, he's bringing the magic to me.

    Got here via Michele's today, but I woulda gotten here this evening anyway!

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  10. Hi I came From Michele's...lovely photos on flickr and I'll be back to read more!

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  11. Hello, michelle sent me :)
    I still wonder how they are able to do everything they do out there.
    I mean I know but if you really think about it, its amazing!

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