#childhood – CRINAMORPHO

Tonight, I stood outside and watched the Moon slowly move across the Sun.

This photograph is one I took myself tonight, here in England, during the partial solar eclipse. There was something incredibly peaceful about standing there, looking up at the sky and watching something so extraordinary happen right in front of me.

It immediately brought this Bible verse to my mind:

“For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine.”
— Isaiah 13:10

There is something humbling about an eclipse. We know the science behind it — the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun and temporarily blocks the sunlight. But knowing how it happens doesn’t make it any less amazing.

If anything, it makes me appreciate even more the incredible order of God’s creation.

And tonight’s eclipse brought back a childhood memory that I hadn’t thought about in a long time.

I remember being in Romania as a little girl when we had a total solar eclipse. I remember that we had a special plastic banknote that could be used to safely watch the eclipse. I remember being fascinated by it.

I later realised that the memory I had was from 11 August 1999, when Romania experienced a total solar eclipse. The National Bank of Romania had actually issued a special 2,000 lei polymer banknote commemorating the eclipse. The note featured the solar system and the eclipse, and it had special features connected to viewing it.

I was only four years old.

And somehow, that memory stayed with me all these years.

Now, more than 25 years later, I am standing in another country, looking at another eclipse and taking my own photograph, either my little mini me, next to me.

Life really is incredible.

We grow up. We move. We change. We create our own families and our own lives. And then, every now and again, something as simple as looking up at the sky can take us straight back to being a little child again.

Tonight reminded me that some memories don’t disappear. They simply wait quietly inside us until something brings them back.

And perhaps that’s another reason I love looking at the sky.

It reminds me how small we are, how beautiful creation is, and how much there is beyond what we can see every day.

🌙 Have you ever seen a solar eclipse?

And I would especially love to know:

What is your dearest or most unforgettable memory of an eclipse?

Were you a child? Who were you with? Where were you?

When I was a child, I used to like playing with the dolls, but my favourite activities were outdoor with my friends, we used to play a lot of pretend play, my favourite game was to be a reporter, and a saleswoman (girl). I had a lot of money (leafs). We didn’t had many toys as my family was struggling financially. But I am not upset though.

Now let’s talk about the hundreds of toys kids have in these days…can we count it, if you are a parent, just try to count your children’s toys. How many, too many?

Well, I work in a nursery and our kids have a lot of toys too, but sometimes I have observed that they just do wanna play with the toys, but instead they find a cup, stick, spoon, a leaf more interesting.

I know you love your child so much and you want to make them happy, and sometimes it’s easy to make the kids happy, just by buying a toy, but that joy lasts an hour or less. I was an AU PAIR for a family with a 5 years old boy, they were wealthy and they bought a lot of toys for that child, every week there was a brand new toy, Lego, in his hands, do you know how long that child played with the toy, Lego? 1 day, and that was it. The parents spent hundreds of £ practically for a moment of ”new toy happiness”.

Let’s imagine we going in the playroom now, what can you see? Lego everywhere, toys spread all over the floor?

Now is the moment to CLEAN that room. Ask your child what toys are his favourites and which ones he wants to donate to poor children, is the perfect time to teach the child about compassion, giving, sharing. So the ones he/she can give up just donate it and keep the ones they want to play with.

Fewer toys can encourage more creative and imaginative play. When children have fewer toys, they find ways to use them in creative way. Quality and fewer toys are the solution for that messy playroom.

Surveys have shown that a typical child owns 238 toys in total but parents think their child plays with just 12 favourites on a daily basis.

Toys are really good, it helps with their development. But what if instead of buying a new toy we propose to the child an outdoor activity?

#crinamorpho

Tag: #childhood

Eclipse

KIDS AND THEIR TOYS