7-year-old girl hugging her new dictionary and treating it like a book of spells is such a mood

Sometimes, even a small surprise can brighten a child’s world. Childhood—a time of wonder and simple joys—is often remembered fondly as a favorite chapter in life. Simple pleasures like blowing bubbles on a sunny day or getting a dictionary from a parent can mean so much. When a seven-year-old asked her mom for a dictionary, she was overjoyed upon receiving it, barely able to put it down.

"My seven-year-old asked for a dictionary this week. We went to the bookshop today to buy one. She walked home hugging it, pausing every so often to look up a word, grinning as though she had been given a book of spells, the key to wonders," read a post on X by @A_B_Morgan. 

Many responded to the post, sharing memories of simpler times they miss as adults. "I still have the one my parents gave me in 1959. Be sure to put an inscription in hers. With the date. Mine has one," commented @robinhobb. "When a bookworm grows older: I felt the same way when I realized that I could see every town, every monument, every portrait, and statue, and hear the way words sound in French and Arabic merely by looking for it on the internet. The world is wonderful. Please preserve it," wrote @MargieInTelAviv. 

"Dictionaries and atlases used to be my favorite books when I was a kid," added @Greytaitai. Another person talked about their own childhood memories connected to dictionaries, "I have a GSA dictionary that somehow came home from the Army with me. It's from the 1980s, and it's fun to try to look up words that didn't yet exist."

Some childhood gifts stay with us for a lifetime, often because they’re filled with love and effort, not just material value. In a heartwarming video, shared by @thewheelchairdad, the power of gifts and gestures was yet again proven. The caption of the video reads, "Dad was paralyzed while building a home. He is still an incredible builder!" The video shows the dad in his wheelchair with a hand-drawn blueprint of what he was going to build for his children. "We designed this built-in bunk bed/playhouse about a year ago and it has been an absolute labor of love this year!" the caption revealed.

This project held deep meaning for the family. Despite his wheelchair, the dad proved to be a true handyman. "Dan has been working tirelessly in between all of the other craziness he’s dealing with and yesterday it was finished enough to put their mattresses in temporarily,” the caption read. In one of the shots, he is seen kneeling and hammering a nail into the wall, all so that his daughters get the gift that they deserve. “They were so excited! What an incredible gift their daddy is giving them! Not only a dream bedroom but the priceless lessons he is teaching them along the way! As they were going to sleep last night, they both said, ‘Thank you Daddy and Mommy for our bedroom!’” the caption explained.