Tapping into a child's imagination

The other day, I drove my youngest daughter to preschool and there was a long line of cars stopped at the red light.

"Why aren't you going?" she asked. She hates waiting in traffic.

"Well, what do you want me to do? There is a line of cars in front of me," came my impatient response. "Should I just drive into them?"

"I wish you had a car that had wings and could fly."

I glanced into the rearview mirror so I could see her face. "What?"

"Your car should have wings on it so it can fly over all the other cars and we can get to school faster."

My impatient fit of temper was now gone as we chatted about the possibilities of what kind of car I could have and what it would do. She had some really great ideas--none of which was logical to this adult mind, but her imagination ran wild and we enjoyed it as we waited for the light to turn green.

That's when I realized how I could write a better children's book. I've written a few children's stories so far, but I haven't done much with them because I feel they lack something.

And that something is a child's imagination. If only I would listen more carefully to my children, I could tap into what it is like to think anything is possible. Forget physics, biology, my tainted view of the world built up from years of bad experiences, and allow myself to think the impossible.

I'm going to give it a whirl. If it works out--I'll share it with you.