We’d rented a cottage at Flinders Bay, a tiny, magical little place, consisting of only forty-two tiny blocks – a two hour drive south for us.
“How big is the world?” Ming asked from his car seat in the back. He was three years old. We were only an hour into our journey and I wondered if his question was another version of “Are we there yet?” I hoped not.
“Huge,” I said.
“Are we aweady in the other one?”
“The other what?”
“The other world?”
“Not yet.”
“Yes we are so!” he said with certainty.
“What do you mean?”
“We doan have hunnerts of twees in our world.”
We were driving through a forest of beautiful karri trees and I suddenly realised how weird this would seem to Ming who was used to living on a cleared farm.
A few minutes later we stopped at a parking bay to eat our picnic lunch. The forest towered above us, filtering out the sunlight all except for a few bright shafts that Ming took great delight in jumping through over and over.
“I like this world way better than our one,” he said, decisively.
An hour or so later we approached Flinders Bay and I reached behind to nudge Ming’s leg until he woke up. “We’re here, Ming.” I said, excited myself. “This is Flinders Bay.”
He took his dummy out [yes, I know a 3-year-old with a dummy is bit unusual] and watched silently through the car window as Anthony eased the car down a steep slope into the tiny bay area. The view of the water was spectacular.
“It’s annuva world!” Ming exclaimed. “One, two, fwee – this is numba fwee world! How many worlds is there, Andony?” He always addressed these more difficult questions to Anthony, which was usually a great relief.
“Just one,” Anthony said, still negotiating the steep slope of the road.
“No it’s not!” Ming replied indignantly. “This is numba fwee – I just toldja that.”
I nudged Anthony as we pulled into the driveway of the beachside cottage. “Ming thinks we’re in another world,” I whispered. “Humour him.”
“Whadidja say to Andony, Mummy?” Ming shrilled, never one to miss a whisper.
I gave up on Anthony, who looked perplexed. “Daddy reckons this is another world but he doesn’t know how many there are, all together, Ming,” I said, getting out of the car.
Ming unclipped his seatbelt and threw himself out and onto the grass. “Are we gonna live here in this world now?” he asked, pointing to the cottage. He was so excited he could hardly contain himself.
“No, just for one week, Mingy,” I said, picking him up.
“How big is one week, Mummy?”
Argh! “Ask Anthony,” I said, knowing then that Ming would definitely provide us with a whirl-wind, one-week trip around the worlds!
This was confirmed when Ming looked over my shoulder at the incredible beachfront and asked, “Is this where all the worlds get borned, Mummy?”
I looked at the view through his eyes and said, without hesitation, “Yes.”
jmgoyder 
Love, love, love this.
Ps: totally love all the dialogue in your storytelling too.
Thanks – I love remembering these ‘good old days’!
nice
That is so cute. You must have tons of memories like this. Thanks for sharing them.
I wrote a lot down – so glad I did!
No, not tons. Hunnerts.
Ha – yes!
That is absolutely, positively adorable!
I love these memories!
awww, that was just so precious, and i liked the way you used Mings words……….i loved this……
Thanks!
I love the way kids view things. It’s all new to them, and they come at it with their own perspective. Sometimes, it makes us look at things in a new way.
Kid have such a wonderful view of things!
I just giggled here by myself at least 3 different times in my reading this wonderful flash-back of yours!! How sweet and adorable … Ming being certain this was a whole new world — and where all of the worlds are born! The best Julie — needed this one today!! Love & Thank you dearest friend!! xo
Never had time to reply earlier, Robyn – thank you – how did MRI go?
I L-O-V-E this love story! And there is nothing as magical as seeing the world or worlds through the eyes of a child who sees it for the first time, is there?
I wrote a column for a parenting magazine years ago and it was called ‘Through a child’s eyes’. I have just rediscovered my first drafts and the memories are flooding back!
I bet there are some real treasures in there!
Yes!
This brought tears to my eyes. It’s so sweet!
Brings tears to my own eyes because it was before Ants got so ill.
What a wonderful memory of years past… I will never forget taking my son to the sea for the first time… when he saw it he said “Dad, we need a dam this big on our farm…”
What a fantastic memory!
I LOVE this story. What a funny way for your kid to see the world, as many worlds! I wonder how he came up with the concept. For a while, my 4-year old asked me if we lived in California on a daily basis. I felt like a parrot saying yes every time, but I guess it was a way for him to define his boundaries. He has a puzzle of the United States and knows where most states are (he’s way better at it than I am!).
Oh your 4-year-old son sounds just like Ming when he was little!
you were in another world and it took Ming to recognize it – adults need help with magic
Oh the magic of magic – I remember!
I want it back!
Me too!
just so beautiful! it is amazing how you can see the man he will become even at 3.
I am very lucky to have a kid like this!
It’s certainly a more imaginative question set than most people get from a three year old!
He has always asked difficult questions – even now he’s 18!
Awwwwwwwwwwwwww.
How beautiful is age 3.
No wonder he is musical, creative & downright intelligent now.
He was super intelligent even at age 3.
Thanks – poor kid was hopeless at school stuff but I always knew he had some ‘smarts’!
Special to save memories – my little niece travelled down from Canada to Florida for a holiday with her Grandparents. The journey took 5 days – after a couple of days she sighed and said “this journey is becoming a holiday”
What a delightful memory!
Loved this story. Thank you for sharing such a lovely part of your family history.
Brenda in the Boro
Thanks for reading!
What a beautiful story! Love it. If only we could always see with a child’s eyes.
~FringeGirl
Yes, we lose that child’s view too soon!
How wonderful this story is …. love the part where Ming says that here is where the worlds is bornned. So touching the whole story – eyes there is maybe more than one world .. in our world – only that as an adult we don’t pick it up or we are unable to see it. It would be wonderful if there is many different worlds for our children first of all and even for us. At least I wouldn’t mind a much better world .. with no wars and where people lived in peace with each other – there no religion or skin color matters .. there everybody have water and food – that everybody get education and healthcare. Thank you so much for sharing this with me .. it really made me think.
And now you have made me think too! Thanks so much for this beautiful comment, Viveka!
J, it was you that made me think … over this with seeing things through children’s eyes. Felt so humble for and over what I was reading . Thank you so much.
Thank YOU!
Beautiful!
Thanks, Elizabeth!
I love children’s perspective on life. Who is to say that they are wrong?
I agree – it’s a shame that child’s eye view is soon extinguished to some extent.
Julie,
This is the best little kid story I have ever read. Made me smile from the heart up…
~ Lynda
Why thank you!!!
As they say, “from the mouth of babes…” Wonderful memory.
I will never forget it!
An amazingly unique perspective for a 3-year-old! An astrophysicist in the making…
I’m sure all little kids say those kinds of things – love it!