A Picnic with Luccy the Lizard

Dear Falcotto,

I am Deborah, mother of Alessio who will soon be 3.

Last weekend was a beautiful and sunny so we decided to go out on a family picnic. Alessio was delighted at the idea of picnicking on a colourful blanket at the park in the middle of a beautiful green lawn. He was so excited and eager to leave that he was up at seven, shouting for Mommy and Daddy to wake up in his sweet little voice.

After a few yawns and cuddles, we finally got out of bed and started to prepare for our picnic. At the last minute Alessio remembered that he needed his sunglasses, the ones that bought in the mountains (just for ten minutes). But at long last, we were able to bundle him into the car.

Once we reached the park, Alessio rushed to the playground with his father, so I laying out our picnic in the green area, and a few hours later everyone was feeling rather hungry. It was time to sit on our beautiful blanket where I had spread out all our yummy food; as he was taking the first bite of his sandwich, Alessio spotted something moving under the blanket. "Oh," he exclaimed. He didn't know what it was.

Suddenly a lizard sprang out from under the blanket and to my surprise, Alessio managed to grasp it. I gave a little start of fear, but bit it back because it was just a lizard after all.

I was amazed to see how gently Alessio held the tiny lizard without squashing it. He was not at all frightened and seemed to enjoy the experience of holding the lizard; he even gave her a name: Luccy. Who knows where that came from!

After a while Alessio put Luccy on the grass but the tiny lizard seemed to have grown fond of him. They didn't seem to be afraid of each other at all, quite the opposite ... the little lizard didn't scamper away immediately and to Alessio’s delight stayed quite close to him for some time.

The suddenly Luccy disappeared into the grass and Alessio exclaimed "Luccy has gone." He didn't seem to be sad or disappointed, so I asked him if the lizard had said goodbye to him before going; and my little boy simply said "Yes, she said BYE". That made me smile.

Even small and seemingly insignificant experiences can be emotional for parents. The innocence of a child and his gentlness remind adults of the true essence of unconditional love.

And then….

"Mom please push me on the swing" - so we go back to playing and Luccy becomes a pleasant memory of that beautiful day at the park.