Playing inside can wear on me. Not only is there always a mess, but we end up doing the same things over and over. Mind you, we have more toys and crafts and such in this house than we could possibly need, but Hope and Grant just seem drawn to the same things every day and usually those are the pretend games. Pretend games require a lot of work on my part, especially because Hope usually insists that I say a certain dialogue and act a certain way. I adore how her mind works, and I know that pretend is so good for them, but - wow - can it be monotonous!
Still, I'm trying to catch myself when I slip into being lazy about play. Some days it's just easy to look the other way when they want to watch too much TV or play too many computer games. But I've discovered that if I'm intentionally steering them toward playing, and if I can suggest an activity, then once we're doing it the time flies and we all have more fun. And somehow I don't mind cleaning up messes we made when we were having fun together the way I sometimes mind cleaning up all the crumbs, shoes, papers, and miscellaneous things that get strewn around when they're being couch potatoes.
We are a playful little family. I know that once the weather cooperates, we'll be outside more than we're inside, and that will be great! But for now, and especially if we're snowed in tomorrow, I'm going to be aiming for more days and memories like this one:
2 comments:
You are the queen of pretend play. That picture cracks me up...it's like the superhero family from the Incredibles...maybe a future look for Halloween...
This is one of my favorite photos of your family! It shows how things really are at your house.....sweet, creative and focused on encouraging those sweet children. AND - you look very beautiful in this shot!
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