Birds Among Us
While John made supper, I sat on the grass and watched this little old man shriek at the birds flying to and from the eaves of our home with food for their young.
And here's a moving picture of the same, which includes a powerful display of her language abilities. 'OOK! 'Ird! 'Ommy! Plaaaaay. (That first one sounds more like a squeaky shriek when she's excited, though.) And I'm not at all sure why my voice sounds like a six-year old's.
4 comments :
ohmygoodness. that's CUTE.
I have no idea why I foudn this video clip soooooo funny, but I laughed SO HARD throughout the entirety I was reminded of a modern drama class. I LOVE how Susanna just sits clamly in her chair as the two firebrands run back and forth. SHE IS SO CUTE! ANd I meant it- I want a letter detailing how you have managed to produce such creative offspring!!!!!
I'll send you an email sometime, but as long as I'm responding to comments...
From my observation of my own and other people's children, it's hard to NOT have creative offspring!
Children by nature explode with creativity in different expressions and forms, although of course that creativity can be dulled by too much television, not enough time spent playing outside, etc., etc. Also, I think it helps to leave them alone once in a while so that they have enough space to create elaborate worlds without mama crashing through with an, "Oh, Sweet. You really shouldn't mess up the living room blankets"...by constructing a fortress of epic scope. Not to say I haven't done this before, or that there aren't times when they really SHOULDN'T mess up the living room blankets...
I think reading to one's children is of huge importance, for a myriad of reasons, and one of the byproducts of hearing and enjoying Story is creating your own. An enjoyable way to sharpen a child's present imagination is to read to him or her! Children whose imaginations have been developed by imagining the stories they hear, rather than by watching stories on a screen, have a strong base from which to draw when they play. (Yes, our girls watch movies, especially with my film buff/film critic/film lover Heart, but this is an occasional occurrence, instead of a daily or even a weekly one like it is for some children.) Not to step on toes, but I strongly believe less is more when it comes to television and younger children, though I'm also not one to advocate no movies at all.
Something I've done with the girls since they were little is to enter into their imaginative stories when they offer the opportunity. When I suddenly find myself in the role of the monster/wicked stepmother/fairy godmother/orphaned older sister/ GRANDMA (more often than not}/elephant mama, I try not to put them off because I'm up to my elbows in dish suds, but to at least play along verbally so that their story can continue without an adult popping it with "reality." ["Oh, Sweet, you know you're not REALLY an elephant...]
You just wait. Selah will continue to amuse and delight you, and the more her imagination reveals itself, the more delighted you'll be.
Oh, yeah. If that wasn't too soapy a soapbox for you, I just thought of a soapy something else. (It might help if I thought things over before I commented.)
Simple is best when it comes to toys. Less is also more, though I definitely don't practice this like I'd like to! It's hard to weed things out when the girls are given so much, but the ones most conducive to imaginative play (and most valuable, in my opinion) are those that leave room for the child's own interpretation rather than dictating the details to him or her. I love wooden toys best, although we've got lots of plastic, and it goes without saying that we prefer toys that omit the bells and whistles and flashing lights. Once the snow melts, though, none of this matters, because a stick, a stone, a feather, and a handful of grass end up being more useful in the girls' eyes than any of the toys inside our house. This, I think, is just as it should be.
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