The last few days here have been bitterly cold and windy. The snow is beautiful and inviting, but it is just too cold to go outside and play in it. Carlie and Sam have been very restless. I'm sure most of you know that a restless 2 year old and 4 year old can become a handful without a lot of creativity. Crissy usually has a daily "project" for the children. They have made everything from placemats made with leaves and clear contact paper to a giraffe growth chart they've hung inside the coat closet door. Their projects usually involve something small enough to create while sitting at the kitchen table. Desperate times call for desperate measures -
Today, right in the middle of the living room floor, they built a pirate ship. I arrived to find a child-sized pirate ship sitting in the middle of the living room floor. They made it using cardboard boxes, wrapping paper (sail), broom handle (mast), and tons of creativity. This was complete with two black eye patches so they both could pretend to be pirates. All we needed now was the weird parrot toy my sister had several years ago that talked.I'm sure the time spent creating the ship and pretending to be pirates helped keep the children entertained for hours.
Crissy's daily routine of cooking, cleaning, nursing the baby, changing diapers, and working on potty training a two year old, along with all her other responsibilities keeps her extremely busy and I'm sure, exhausted at times. Yet she realizes that her main responsibility is to her children. To be present and available to them. Sometimes it is hard to motivate yourself to get up off the couch and do one more "little thing". Remember, "little things" can be a "big thing" to your child. Spending time with your child, reading, singing, or just making eye contact, needs to be a part of your daily routine.
