Ice cream kisses

Becca's bedtime routine usually takes about an hour. After her bath, there is potty, teeth brushing, tuck in, bedtime story, kiss and cuddle then finally lights out. Except one evening... Becca was not having it!! In frustration, I took a few deep breaths and sat down beside her bed for a talk. I ask her in darkness, 'How was your day today? What was the best part?'

These night time discussions have become a part of our night time routine, and also one of my favorite parts of the day. One night Becca wanted to talk about all the different types of kisses.
'Eskimo kiss' she said. We rubbed our noses together back and forth.
'Now a butterfly kiss' she said, as she began batting her eye lashes on my cheek.
'What about an ice cream kiss?' She beamed.
'What's an ice cre...? Becca licked me from my chin to my forehead, before I could finish my sentence.

Next time I think I will pass on the ice cream.

Serenity Prayer

I wish for my life to go according to your plan.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

Just taking in that nice hot cup of coffee.... and savoring the silence before the stampede rushes in.

Do you believe in magic?

While tucking Becca in for bed this evening, she was beyond exhausted. 'I liked the magic show' she said, yawning and rubbing her eyes, before turning over to go right to sleep. The magic show... yes... I noticed the signs in the park as soon as we arrived around 9:30am. 'KIDS SHOW 11am'. We stuck around, I thought Becca and the daycare kids might enjoy a little entertainment. They're eyes lit up when the magician asked 'Do you believe in magic?'

The kids were all amazed at one trick in which the magician had a clover, closed in his hand, and when he opened his hand again, sparks flew and the clover was gone. They loved it... and that was the talk of the afternoon. 'How did he do that?'
'I don't know', I said. 'I guess it's just... magic.'

It brought back incredible memories for me... I remember walking into a magic store and the guy behind the counter called me and my sister over and showed us two foam balls in his hand. He squeezed his hand shut and asked my sister to do the same, and when he opened his hand there was only one ball, and the other was in my sisters. I was awestruck.

Echo

'Do you want to echo with me mamma?' Becca beamed enthusiastically. Before I could respond she shouts to the world. 'HELLO.' She looks at me waiting. 'Now you echo.'
'Hello', I say loud enough to be heard from the other side of the street.
'Not like that mommy. You need to say it louder, and look up to the sky like this.' She says, pointing her face upwards. 'HELLO'.
I look up to the sky and give one big 'HELLO'. Surprisingly it made me feel really good, even though I felt a bit silly. I saw her out of the corner of my eye, smiling from ear to ear, as she wrapped her arms around me tightly. 'You did it.'

Nature's Beauty

My job is full of the unexpected surprises. Teachable moments are everywhere... Outdoors is where it all is. We spend so much time exploring, observing, touching. We play with textures (sand/water/stones/soil..etc.) We lift up rocks and watch the little ant families scramble around, lifting all the little eggs to safety. 'Did you know that ants can carry 30 times their body weight?'

We have now started toad hunting... because they really love our garden. We've found toads as small as a dime and toads as big as a mini hamburger. The children are now spotting them on their own, carfefully placing them in a bucket to observe for a few minutes, and then feeling pleasure in letting them go. 'Good-bye little toad. Come again later. We will miss you.'

When you really pay attention to nature, and all of it's beauty... you see for the first time what is just so easily overlooked.

Just the simple pleasure of seeing a child's face light up... as they see firsthand a toad, an ant, dragonfly, snake, catapillar...or just anything and everything that can't be learned from television or reading books, but seeing it up close and personal in their own natural habitat... is worth getting my hands a little dirty for.