For the last few weeks we’ve taken to having ‘Sunday night
family time’ watching Britain’s Next Great Magician on TV. Everyone’s a winner.
The kids love it, it’s actually, for the most part, quite entertaining and it
requires far less effort at the end of a busy week than reading a bedtime
story.
However, I do have one complaint: Ethan.
He either has to smugly claim that he knows how each trick
is done (and thus take the magic out of magic trick for us all) or, if there’s
a trick he can’t explain, he’ll rewind the programme, slow it right down (the
wonders of modern technology for a person with Asperger’s) and carry out a detailed
study. Needless to say, this is really annoying for everyone else watching the
programme. I also find it sad (and infuriating) that he needs to know how
everything works – fiercely practical always. Where’s the space for dreaming,
wonder, make-believe? But anything he can’t explain, pin down to science and
reason, seems to bother him. It’s part of him feeling in control of his world,
I guess.
I think that being able to explain a magic trick, if only to
himself, makes him feel good, self-assured, right. And being right boosts his
self-esteem when so often in life and social situations, he is wrong.
The rest of us, weirdly, watch a magic show for the magic.
So, this week, I’m keeping tight hold of the remote control!