Wuh? On Toddlers and Magic

So, not long ago, I was catching up a bit on my e-mail while my infant son was sleeping and my almost 3-yr-old was playing with play-doh at the dining room table behind me. It is one of those sets with all sorts of food-making paraphenilia. I had augmented it with a few cookie cutter shapes and a small wooden rolling pin. I was engrossed in writing a message when some words began to register in the periphery of my concious mind as they drifted from my play-doh chef: "red ball...stick...move, ball, move...magic..." This continued and as I became more aware I heard: "I move the ball with the stick. It's magic!" I finally snapped out of e-mail mode and looked around behind me to behold my son sitting on his knees, turned away from the dining room table, pointing the rolling pin toward a red rubber ball on the floor commanding it to move! He was so focused, I almost believed he meant it! I smiled and even laughed a little and quickly realized where the idea for this had come from. Yes, of course, he'd watched a Clifford DVD--a Christmas gift from Grandma--a number of times and was reinacting one of the scenes. I'm not sure if he really thought it would work or not. But, for me, it was one of those humorous and sweet moments that reminded me that he's growing up and taking in all kinds of stuff from the world around him. It also reminds me to be vigilant about what I let him see!