How to Catch a Rainbow

Baachan and Jiichan have a new door with a pretty little window alongside it. One morning I heard Sweetie Blue riding her Diego truck in the hall and I peeked around the corner to see what she was up to. Sunshine streamed through the window, a collection of simple solo rays lending a bit of life to the blue way. I remember light shooting through the little diamond window in my Grandparents cabin first thing in the morning like that. A spotlight on the braided rug, calling attention to the woolen colors collaborating as they warmed the floor for feet fresh out of a bed on a cold mountain morning. It was one of my favorite ways to wake up. Ever. This was a little bit the same. It just made me feel cozy.
I caught up to the munchkin. We played more truck on the cool white tile. I noticed the joints of the window were acting as prisms, casting tiny little rectangles of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. Little geometric rainbows painted on a robin egg canvas. I showed the little Puddin' Bear. She touched them, showed me all the pinks, and blues, and even a couple of "g'een"s. Let the sunshine highlight her golden little pixie face. Then she was off, like kitten after a butterfly.
I thought to bring Curly back a bit later, show her the rainbows too. But when she woke up they were already gone. And though I know they must be there, I haven't chanced upon them since.

I am mother to two little girls. They used to be babies and already are not. They are the fairies and imps of my world, leaving traces of sugar and cinnamon behind them as they flit about their mystical business. I know these prismatic instants are part of their daily magic. I can feel them. Generally, they escape me in the music and noise of housekeeping, callings, friendships, hobbies, and forward motion. The days pass in gusts like a whirlwind, and every once in a while I get moment to experience their childhoods as I pass through the calm eye of the storm. And those are the fleeting pauses in which rainbows are caught.