May 2, 2010, at 10:07 pm | Unbeknownst to the world (until today), I have had an ongoing internal debate. It may not be an important topic, but it is one that consumes my thoughts nonetheless. I frame the issue in terms of creativity versus catastrophe.
Creativity is dear to my heart. I have loved to draw since I was a child, and I want to instill the same love of art in my children. But avoiding catastrophe is similarly crucial in my life, and I hope it will be to my girls, as well. And when it comes to toddlerhood, I struggle to encourage creativity while also avoiding catastrophe.
Each week at the library story hour, our fearless leader sets up a rather intricate craft that usually involves markers and crayons and paper and glue (she sent out a warning e-mail this week that our upcoming meeting will use paint. Paint! That has catastrophe written all over it!). And each week, without fail, Susie bites the heads off the crayons and Becky sucks on the glue sticks. And that’s about it. They have no desire to actually USE the implements to, you know, do a craft. I understand that this is probably age-appropriate behavior, but it is headache-inducing behavior all the same. And like avoiding catastrophes, I also like to avoid headaches.
But I have been wracked with guilt (okay, not really wracked – but it’s crossed my mind once or twice) that my girls get NO craft or art time at home because any artsy product I introduce ends up consumed, broken, or spilled. Even though I am not averse to letting the kids get dirty (I’m fine with doing laundry, and I think grass stains lend a certain seasoned maturity to jeans), I’m just not thrilled with the screaming matches that ensue when one girl wants ALL the crayons, or when her sister wants ALL the paper. I have enough trouble teaching the art of sharing that I don’t have energy leftover to teach art itself.
However, today we had a bit of a breakthrough. I have had a wonderful product stashed away at the bottom of the kids’ toy bin (more precisely, toy cardboard box) called an Aquadoodle. It’s a travel-sized mat that kids can “paint” on using water. I have pulled it out before, only to quickly yank it away from the girls, because it only came with one writing instrument, and that’s a certain start to WWIII. But I recently purchased a second brush, and my oh my, I think this may have solved my long-standing internal debate. The girls happily scrawled away without making a mess or starting a fight. Susie may have even drawn a moon, based on her emphatic declaration of “Moo! Moo!” Either that, or she had drawn a cow, a movie, a motorcycle or she was asking for “more,” given that all those words sound the same.
Here are the girls demonstrating their proper Aquadoodling techniques. And sporting the appropriate Aquadoodling headgear. Because being creative requires wearing a hat, apparently.
(Yes, Susie still tried to eat the brush, but at least there was no harm done. It’s a much more painless process than crayon-biting. I can’t tell you how much I dislike picking crayon bits out from between her teeth!).
May 1, 2010, at 9:21 pm | I was talking to my Gramma tonight (hi GiGi!) and mentioned that it’s a good thing the girls had a good day today, because last night I was ready to (metaphorically, of course) throw them out the nearest window after a disastrous trip to a furniture outlet. Jim and I had taken the girls to a giant-mega-supersized-humongous furniture shop in the hopes that they would walk quietly alongside us while we deliberated over the best available dining room set. Go ahead, snicker away, any parents out there. We know now that it’s not a good idea to mix tired, hungry toddlers with a showroom full of glass coffee tables, never ending hallways and staircases, and fancy wood pieces that I was reluctant to breathe on, let alone touch. By the end of the evening, I was contemplating either pretending I had no idea who these unruly children belonged to, or stuffing them into an armoire (with air vents, naturally) until Jim and I could at least hear ourselves think. Needless to say, no major decisions were made, other than to go home and hope the store owners would let us back in at a later date.
But today dawned bright and beautiful, and so did our girls. They couldn’t have been more angelic today if they had sprouted wings. They played well with each other, entertained themselves, and even took an extra-long morning nap, allowing me the time to get additional housework done. After lunch, we all happily piled into the car and towed the boat to a nearby lake for our first outing of the season. Everything went perfectly. I nearly fell over in shock when the kids wanted to put on their life vests. They sat contentedly on our laps and enjoyed the scenery with the rest of us. It was a relaxing afternoon. I didn’t think that was even possible with two toddlers!
Now, the big question is which version of our children will greet us tomorrow morning. Who will we be taking to church? A disobedient duo, or a terrific twosome? I’m voting for the latter. After all, how could these faces be anything other than sweetness and light?
April 30, 2010, at 10:20 pm |
I know this is what you’ve all been waiting for.
The moment you thought would never come.
Well, the time has finally arrived.
I won’t keep you in suspense any longer.
Feast your eyes on…
…the first PONYTAIL!
Our little squirt is finally sporting her own little squirt of hair! We’re so proud!
April 29, 2010, at 9:41 pm | I’ve heard of wearing strappy sandals, but Susie’s taken her crocs to the next level:
I guess that’s what you get when you ask a toddler to put on her own shoes!
Edited to add: For any inquiring minds, I wanted to note that it looks like Becky’s health is returning. She’s kept everything down in the last 24 hours -hooray for no additional laundry! She did take two long naps today, which is unusual for her, but I’m not going to complain (I always put the girls down for two naps, but the afternoon stretch usually consists of one long, raucous playtime). Her appetite was markedly decreased for most of the day, but she finally ate a decent dinner. So hopefully we’re in the clear. I’ll keep you posted!
April 28, 2010, at 10:51 pm | Becky derives a great deal of enjoyment out of cleaning up. She loves to put away her books and toys and place her water bottle back on her high chair tray and stuff clothes into a hamper and do all sorts of tidying up. Now she has expanded her domestic repertoire to include trash duty as well. Whenever she sees a forlorn piece of paper or page of a magazine lying around (thanks to her sister, who loves nothing more than the satisfaction of tearing paper out of its rightful place), she crumples it in her hand, declares a disgusted “Uck!â€, briefly waves it in my direction for my approval, and then hurries off to deposit it into the bathroom trashcan. I end up emptying the can every day or so, because she generates such a volume of waste. Here is today’s garbage collection:
I am thankful that she loves to help out with chores, and I look forward to the day when she can also do her own laundry. I only wish that day was today, since she picked our master bedroom duvet to puke upon this evening. I don’t know yet whether this was a one-time event, or whether we’re battling a new virus in the house. Please pray that our little trash collector is back to her tricks soon!
April 27, 2010, at 8:40 pm | Yesterday afternoon, the girls spotted their dresses in a laundry pile on the floor, and eagerly requested my assistance in putting them on. I slipped them over their heads, and the girls instantly started prancing around like princesses awaiting an invitation to the ball. I grabbed my camera and asked them to hold hands for a picture. They forgot about the picture part, but they were very much amused by the holding hands part.
They walked all over the house, hand in hand, grinning from ear to ear. You’d have thought I had told them they had just won a lifetime supply of ice cream.
After their giggly romp, I rewarded their sisterly behavior with a bowl of cheerios and raisins at the table. When I brought over the camera to capture this “big girl†moment, they put on their cheesiest grins.
Even though I know this post is already quite picture-heavy, I have to include a couple more photos of Susie’s cheesy grin. It just cracks me up. I don’t think she can see at all when she does this.
I guess I’m encouraging them to keep up these goofy looks by my cackling laughter every time they cheese for the camera. Oh well. It may not make for candid shots, but it makes for a happy mama!
April 26, 2010, at 8:55 pm | Yesterday morning before church, I tried to get a photo of my girls with their friends Gavin and Mason, with whom we were staying in PA. The boys were surprisingly willing to pose for the group photo, and happily hopped up on the couch. Becky was all too willing to join them, and I got this adorable first shot (I love seeing Gavin’s arm around Becky!):
Then, Jim helped Susie get onto the couch. You can see Becky was quite pleased during this photo shoot, even though the boys were tiring of the constant clicking:
I kept asking the kids to look at me and say “cheese†in the hopes I could get them all smiling and looking in the same direction. I knew it was a hopeless task, but I at least coaxed this smile out of Susie:
After the photo shoot, I took the girls downstairs to play while the boys were getting dressed. Becky found a toy motorcycle that plays music, and so she and her sister had an impromptu dance party. They may not have rhythm, but they have passion!
Thanks so much to our friends Ron and Tiff for their hospitality and for letting their boys entertain our girls all weekend. We love you!
April 25, 2010, at 11:33 pm | We just got back from an eight-hour car trip to visit friends and family for a church conference in Pennsylvania. We had a wonderful, uplifting time there, but it’s nice to be home. I’ll post more photos tomorrow, but here’s a picture of the girls in the car this afternoon. I wish I could say that they were in this quiet and relaxed for the whole road trip, but unfortunately they didn’t sleep a wink on the way down, and only slept for thirty minutes on the way home today. But we all relished those thirty minutes!
April 24, 2010, at 9:45 pm | Who needs zillions of toys when you have a blue box at Bubba’s and Pappy’s house?
(Thanks to my father-in-law for the great pictures!)
April 23, 2010, at 8:30 pm |
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ABOUT US I'm blessed to be saved by the grace of God, loved by my wonderful husband Jim, and embraced by my twin girls, Rebecca Faith and Susanna Joy and my sons Jimmy and Danny. I started this blog in May 2008 when I was hospitalized for pre-term labor at 24 weeks gestation. The Lord allowed me to keep the girls inside until they were 34 weeks along, and on July 27th, Rebecca made her debut, followed by Susanna, five minutes later, on July 28th. We ecstatically welcomed Jimmy into our lives on April 25th, 2011, and Danny on August 31, 2012. This blog has been a personal journal of faith and motherhood and the only way I can remember which child did what and when. Thanks for stopping by to share in my Faith and Joy! Feel free to e-mail me at: [email protected]. |
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