The little things

One of the many things my children have taught me over the years, is that sometimes it's the little things that are the most fun, or the most rewarding. It seems very cliche', but a person really SHOULD take time out to smell the roses! My children do, and what a fantastic scent you're blessed with when you make the effort to stop, breathe in, and ENJOY. And "time flies when you're having fun" is soooo true when you're playing with your children! I'm constantly amazed at how quickly an afternoon can pass playing something as simple as "I spy" or coloring pictures for each other, or just talking about random things. The other day, I THOROUGHLY enjoyed Connor walking around the playroom, testing everything out. Emily and Jared were outside, and Connor had the place to himself; no one taking toys away from him, no one knocking him down on accident, no one to compete with for attention. It was fascinating watching his thought processes...

First, he found two plastic balls from a small sports set we have.


He tested out how they sounded when he banged them together; he tested out how they sounded when he banged them on other things (including my head!). He tested out how they rolled, whether they bounced, what things they fit into, etc. Two little plastic balls entertained the kid for at least 15 minutes!!!

Then, he tested out the Fisher-Price Learning House (Home?). His biggest thrill was how the door opened and closed. How it opened and closed from one side, and how it opened and closed from the other side. Then he tested out how long mommy would continue to say "boo!" each time he'd open the door.

"Where's Connor?"


"Boo!" (notice we still have the yellow ball in our hands)


Then we moved on to the shopping cart we have, and how it would lift up and down as he pressed on the handle. He tested out how everything fell out if he tipped too far; he tested out how strong he was and found out that he can lift the whole thing up if he really wants to! He also tested out what happens if he ran it right into the step that leads out of the room; He also tested out what would happen if he ran it even HARDER into the step that leads out of the room. He tested out pushing it away from himself, and he tested out what sorts of toys would fit in the basket and/or the dolly seat. He was especially excited to discover that one of the plastic balls fit just fine and dandy in either place!


Finally, Connor tested out how hard he could make mommy laugh making funny faces at her. This particular one made me laugh extra hard, because he kept scrunching up his shoulders, turning his head slightly sideways and YELLING, "AYE DA DA DA!" and other such random outbursts. (check out the dimples!)


Sometimes I feel like I really need to structure out a day of activities for the kids, and then it's days like this where I'm really glad I just sat back and followed their lead...