Taa Daaaahhhh! Another Lovely Revelation or Two!

This is a picture of Charley doing a one handed cartwheel a few months ago. Taaaa Daaaahhhhh!

She was always more mature and grounded - perhaps more on the choleric side, with a heavier gate and her mind made up. She's a born leader and often speaks to us on a more profound level than we expect from a 6 year old.

The other day, she told me that she much prefers stories being told to her, rather than me reading a book to her with pictures. When I asked her why, she replied:

"Because I can create my own pictures in my head and then they look how I imagine them to look..."

Wow...our children come to earth with such powerful minds and images. How often do we fall into the trap of thinking we have to provide *everything* for them to blossom. Charley's comment reminds me to give our children more credit and freedom to allow their imaginations to grow by providing the framework of a story, but giving them our trust and the independence to use their own brilliant little minds to create their own images and even to take over and embellish the story. Weave that into our storytelling tales and quickly our little creative beings will take over and run wild with their precious imaginations!

Revelation Two:

This morning, my husband caught Charley in the bathroom with toothbrush in hand, searching for another toothpaste tube - though there was one in front of her that was full. Tony asked her what she was doing and she replied,

"I'm looking for the one that's almost all gone so we can finish it before we open the new one..."

I haven't made it a practice to talk to them about things like using up old toothpaste tubes or cereal boxes before opening new ones - so much of what they learn is through imitation and silent observation. Our children are always watching and always listening.

This was another sweet moment that makes parenting so gratifying & confirms how important it is that we model good behavior. We can learn so much from each other...and it goes both ways :)

Now, maybe I should take a lesson from the girls and get on that gymnastics mat and do some cartwheels and exclaim, "Taaaa Daaaaaahhhh"! Not only is it fun and healthy, but it will help keep me in the heart of my own inner child...