The weekend flew by. My nephew is turning 9 and Saturday we went over to my sisters for cake and ice-cream.
Earlier that day Pollywog put her heart and soul into making him a birthday card and finding a very special rock with a cool fossil to give him as a gift.
She made her own wrapping paper and carefully wrapped the treasure.
It fills my heart to see her take such care and consideration in giving gifts.
It is important to me to instill the true meaning of giving to others.
It is so easy to grab a toy at a store and throw it in a bag for a gift...but to take the time to custom make a card or gift keeping the person's individualness in mind, is truly giving.
To take the time to create is important.
I believe he truly appreciated the gift and pollywog felt a sense of pride in seeing her creation enjoyed.
Today it has been rainy and gray most of the day.
However the sky has been rotating through amazing glows and colors that have illuminated the house with a cozy glow.
Crafting is always a good way to enjoy oneself on such days and today Pollywog tried a new craft that she LOVED!
I poured glue into different bowls and then mixed in food coloring.
In the pink glue I added glitter to her delight and she made the coolest glue paintings.
She titled this one "The Road"
and this one she called "Papa Bowling" due to the thunder that accompanied her creative time.
Tonight I tried implementing something new on her responsibility chart.
Being pretty much like an only child (with a teenage brother) and with her personality she has always felt best when right up against mommy.
Her feet barely touched the ground before age 2 as she loved being in the sling on mommy's bosom..
She loves to snuggle mommy and when playing she always wants me to play with her.
I think this is a beautiful thing. Some might say she needs to be more independent or blame it on attachement parenting and extended breastfeeding, however I disagree.
This is merely her individuality and I respect that.
She likes to call herself a "mommy baby".
I also think that with the changes that have occurred in her life this past year and being away from her mommy, has caused her to feel a bit insecure, needing me by her and to reassure her.
I am giving her the space to heal and just loving her, offering her constant security and being patient.
My only concern, if you can even call it that, is making sure that I am fostering imagination and the ability to play independently, creating games and make-believe.
I don't see a sibling in the near future so I really think it is important that she learn to play on her own at times and enter the magical times of child-hood where one is lost in faraway lands, or teaching a class of stuffed animals, or pretending ones room is a castle.
Television and constant stimuli for kids has stripped this once easy and natural ability.
So on her chart I have added "alone time". A time for her to do the above mentioned as well as just have quiet time with herself.
She doesn't have to go off into a room alone but rather think of something she would like to do or play and then I set a timer and she plays, reads, crafts whatever, on her own.
When the timer is up she can stop or continue if she chooses. Once she fills up this section in her chart she has chosen to get two fish and a frog.
I discussed this with her earlier in the day and we added it to the chart together.
She let me know when she was ready to have her "alone time" and I set the timer.
Apparently she had been thinking of what she would do at this time and quickly grabbed stickers, her two fairys and a bucket of hair ties and such and quickly became lost in song, princess voices and a world all her own for an hour.
I was so proud and she was too as she added a circle to her chart.
After dinner we snuggled on the couch to watch "Prince of Egypt" and in the middle of the movie I looked at her to see if she was enjoying it.
My sweet sweet baby...I still get tears in my eyes when I see her sleep.
She is growing up so fast and yet she still seems like a little baby to me.
Such a sweet perfectly simple day.
(Pollywog is working on making a raisin :) )
What goes better with newly rented books?
Mommy's home-made chocolate chip cookies.
This weeks finds:
for pollywog
-You See A Circus, I See (she is very much into the circus at the moment and can often be found being, "Sally the Circus Girl")
- Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy (our second of the series)
- Out and About at the Apple Ochard (seasonal enjoyment)
- The Great Blue House
- plus an Authur dvd, Eloise dvd and Care Bears dvd
for mommy
- Year Round Gardening
- My Life in Orange (Im excited to get started on this book by Tim Guest)
-Simplicity Parenting: Using the Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier and More Secure Kids
- Huggable crochet (crocheting animals)
- plus the original "Cheaper by the Dozen" dvd and a couple foreign flicks.
* It's nice to snuggle up on the cooler evenings and read or watch films. My landlord had provided us with full cable and after a week I unscrewed the box and gave it back. We havent had cable in years and I almost immediately noticed a negative energy permeate the house. So many images and words constantly pouring out and very few offer positive information or happy images. Without it peace and creativity has re-emerged!*
^
*Happy Monday*
