8 Things that are Still Magic When You Grow Up

blurry picture of lovely & magical stuff
that came to my house in the mail this week

A lot of the magic in life fades after you finish up your tween years, but there are a few things that stick with you even as you grow up. I turned thirty last week (I’m finally a legit grown-up, right?), and I’m pleased to say that I’ve been steadily growing a collection of things that still feel like magic to me:

Mail. When I was a kid, I thought the mailman was like Santa–in that that you could never see him. I’m not sure if I was just having nap time when he came, or if we just never got our timing right, but whatever the mismatch I didn’t catch my first glimpse of our mailman for a good many years. Enough that I actually remember thinking I wasn’t allowed to see him. Happily, when I eventually saw our mail carrier, the magic of getting mail didn’t fade. How wonderful is it to open up a box and find envelopes addressed to you? Sometimes, like I did for birthday-week, you might even get a package or two! (We have a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime right now, and I’m expecting some mail from them tomorrow. Random electronics accessories are way more fun to buy when they come in a box to your door!)

Rain. Can you believe water actually falls out of the sky? And here in the South, we get some fantastic lightning storms, too. I still love the tick-tick-tick of rain on our roof while we fall asleep, and counting the seconds between lightning and a deep roll of thunder to tell how far off a storm is. Plus, cute umbrellas. If you have an utilitarian black one, can I just encourage you to stop by Marshall’s or Ross and pick up a really colorful, fun, patterned or polka-dotted one? They’re less than $10 there, and you will seriously enjoy rain way more. When we grow up more and have a few more pennies laying around, I’ll probably spring for shiny red or white-and-floral rain boots, too.

Meeting a kindred spirit. I’ve noticed as a mom that friendships are both harder and easier. For one thing, there’s the great-ice-breaker that is having children. There is so much relatable there. I’m constantly smiling at overwhelmed moms whose kids have almost run smack into me at Homegoods and saying, “Oh, don’t even worry about it. I have three–I’ve been there!” But that’s about where the easy ends. Because it’s hard to fit a real conversation between handing out snacks, attending to whining, and saving the baby from the mortal peril that is your friend’s un-baby-gated staircase. That’s why it is so magical to meet someone you just click with. It doesn’t happen often (that’s part of the magic!) but oh when it does. I love happiness of being able to skip the small talk and head right into the things we both care about. I’ve been lucky to meet some wonderful kindred spirits at a med-school-spouses club, by sitting next to someone new at church, and (just once!) by striking up a conversation with another mom at the park. It’s just so lovely to know that their are souls who speak my language, still waiting to be met. M-a-g-i-c.

Bubbles. The way they float. That rainbow sheen. And how you can get them to stick to your palms without popping if you’ve already got bubble-soap on them. Whenever I blow bubbles for my littles, it’s always just as much fun for me as it is for them. 🙂

Library holds. Have you ever used the holds system at your library? It has revolutionized how I borrow books. Now when I’ve made it through my latest stack of books, I just sit down at my computer with my goodreads to-read list open and search for exactly the books I’d like. I place a hold, and the library sends me an email when they’re ready for me to pick up! While I still love browsing the aisles for a new find, this is an easy way for me to get the books I want when I’ve got kids in tow without making them wade through the “boring” grown-up section with me. 😉

Watercolor paints. No matter what you paint, as long as you don’t mix up a muddy brown, it looks awesome. So what if it blurs? It’s watercolor. It’s supposed to blur! Everything looks so much prettier when I paint it with watercolor. 🙂

Movie theaters. One of the first movies I remember seeing with my family was the Peter-Pan sequel Hook with Robin Williams. My brother and I left the theater ahead of our parents, leaping and bounding into the cool nighttime air, almost entirely convinced that we could fly. Movies at the theater still get me. I love them. The pitch dark. The larger-than-life screen. The sound so rich that it reverberates through the hollow spaces inside your ribs. And I’m not much of a rule-breaker, but I get a happy, nostalgic little thrill from sneaking king-sized candies in in my purse. Honestly, I think that’s half the fun. 🙂

A great kiss. You know when you get a kiss that gives you a sort of zing-pop-firework in your chest? A sort of oh-he-likes-me! feeling? I’ll vouch for the fact that it can still happen after eight years of marriage and the arrival of three kids. (I love this little tip about how to keep the sparks flying, by the way. Would you try it?) Yes. A great kiss will always be magic.

What makes magic in your day? Share your answer on facebook or in the comments.