From IDEA to I DID IT

My daughter’s new favorite word is “idea.” Usually she shouts it at the top of her lungs when we’re riding in the car: “IDEA! IDEA! IDEA!”

I have no idea what she means by IDEA, but the possibilities are staggering. She usually shouts it with a big grin on her face, and often starts laughing in the middle of her “IDEA” explosion. My son says she’s thinking of ideas to get into things, which is probably not that far off the mark.

I love the idea of an IDEA seizing her so quickly and so suddenly that she just has to shout. The look of pure merriment on her face when an IDEA wave strikes is, in itself, inspiring, and makes me long for the time when the world was new (at least to me) and my synapses fired with excitement, instead of just the eternal questions of what should I make for dinner, and oh no, where did the dog do it this time? The electric flash of clarity, the sudden brilliance of a scheme, the wide open potentials – these are all reflected on her face at the IDEA moment. I admit, I’m jealous of that magic and wonder.

Last night she announced her new phrase, right after I discovered why she had been unusually quiet (and right before my cabinets and I thanked all sorts of deities and Proctor & Gamble for Mr. Clean Magic Eraser) – “I DID IT!” That, baby girl, sums up your next steps, and the steps for the rest of your life – taking an IDEA and turning it into an I DID IT. But please, not with magic marker all over my kitchen cabinets next time.