My expert-mom friend "Inca" who I am changing to "Wanda" shared this little story with me and I think it will be good words to read for any of you who are mommies of little ones. Sometimes we are all too hard on ourselves. (This story came from a mailing from MOPS - we'll talk about MOPS another day). After you read it, let me know your thoughts.
I think my life began with waking up and loving mother’s face. (George Eliot)
Where’s Mom in the Fun?
Mary Beth Lagerborg, Author of Dwelling
I can remember where I sat in my bedroom to play dolls when I was a child. On the cool wooden floor under the windows I had a little “house” set up, and stored my Nancy Ann doll’s wardrobe in a little trunk that would hold her too. Some of the outfits were purchased from a local hobby store – $1.00 each plus tax. I remember the amount because I used to save up for them. Other outfits I “sewed” from scraps of material. When possible I coerced my little brother to play with his Freddy doll. What are your favorite childhood memories of playing at home? Stop and think about it before you answer the following question: Was your mother in that picture? Based upon answers I’ve heard from other moms, probably not. It’s easy to think that we have to continually engineer our children’s fun. We kick ourselves because we don’t stop often enough to participate in (ensure?) it. But sometimes less is more. We can set the stage for fun (pull out some dress-up clothes, hand a toddler a hose running at a trickle, pull out a couple of books a child hasn’t seen for awhile), and let the child’s imagination run its course. And when we are playing with our kids, as of course we need and want to do sometimes, the best play often comes when we’re sharing with our child something that’s also fun for us. We’re more fun when we’re having fun too!
Mary Beth Lagerborg, Author of Dwelling
I can remember where I sat in my bedroom to play dolls when I was a child. On the cool wooden floor under the windows I had a little “house” set up, and stored my Nancy Ann doll’s wardrobe in a little trunk that would hold her too. Some of the outfits were purchased from a local hobby store – $1.00 each plus tax. I remember the amount because I used to save up for them. Other outfits I “sewed” from scraps of material. When possible I coerced my little brother to play with his Freddy doll. What are your favorite childhood memories of playing at home? Stop and think about it before you answer the following question: Was your mother in that picture? Based upon answers I’ve heard from other moms, probably not. It’s easy to think that we have to continually engineer our children’s fun. We kick ourselves because we don’t stop often enough to participate in (ensure?) it. But sometimes less is more. We can set the stage for fun (pull out some dress-up clothes, hand a toddler a hose running at a trickle, pull out a couple of books a child hasn’t seen for awhile), and let the child’s imagination run its course. And when we are playing with our kids, as of course we need and want to do sometimes, the best play often comes when we’re sharing with our child something that’s also fun for us. We’re more fun when we’re having fun too!
Prayer From a Mother's Heart
Dear God, develop my child’s imagination.
Dear God, develop my child’s imagination.
2 comments:
Thanks Lisa-
Sometimes we all need a reminder! Especially after I just blogged about spending too much time on the computer, don't I feel great! Anyway my friend was a member of MOPS a few years back when her kids were younger and she loved it. She always tells me the greatest stories.
So I know I already commented but just a silly little tid bit. My Grandpa used to call me Wanda when I was little. There is some silly story about a girl he used to date and so he called all of his grandaughters Wanda! Hope you are having a good day!
Hey go to Sportsman warehouse, today thru Sunday they have 6 baby bears you can hold and get your picture with. It's $15 and so worth it. Just one more thing to blog about!They are soooo cute!
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