Signs of welcome

Roy asked for a story about foxes - specific ones: red, purple, yellow, and blue. I repeated it back to him (as you do when you're trying to get a toddler's story requirements exactly right). When he confirmed, I started with the basics - foxes in different colors wearing matching hats.

That's when Roy jumped in: "There were hats at the hospital." When I acknowledged this, he specified: "Yeah, white ones." So I wove this into the story - doctors wearing white hats at a fox hospital. Roy confirmed eagerly: "They were doctors."

Then he added another familiar element: "And there was a man there. He has a red sign." When I suggested that the sign said "CLOSED" and the fox doctors would have to wait outside, Roy brought more of our earlier story back - "And the tree doctors." So I followed his lead, describing how the foxes sat with the tree doctors, sharing stories and knowledge.

"And there's a green sign," Roy said. When I suggested it might say 'ALL WELCOME' (following the closed/open pattern), he built on this with enthusiasm: "Yeah. And there's another green sign. It says 'NO PROBLEM'". Then, delighting in this idea: "Yeah. That's funny. It said 'NO PROBLEM' and there's another green sign now. It says 'GOOD JOB'."

I keep thinking about those signs. About how Roy took these encouraging phrases - words he's heard, I assume, at daycare or from us - and brought them into the story. About how he understood that green signs should say welcoming things (though maybe there's a book somewhere with green signs that I don't know about - that's always possible, he seems to remember everything).

I love how the tree doctors from our earlier story are now a consistent part of this world. These stories keep growing and connecting in ways I don't expect. But what delights me even more are those green signs, those little echoes of encouragement coming back in Roy's own way.

Tomorrow there might be new doctors, new signs, new connections I don't expect. But for now, I'm just happy to be invited into this world where helpful doctors wait together, and green signs appear with messages of welcome.