Imaginary Play and Yogurt Container Thoughts

okay...love this smile! first of all...true smile...not his crazy awkward posed smile...but such genuine excitement. he is holding up a letter he had his teacher write for me at school...which he made an envelope for and asked for a million pieces of tape to tape up...

the letter said, "I Love You Mommy - do you want to go on an Easter egg hunt with me?"

"wow bryson...i sure do...next year...you have already had 5 different Easter egg hunts...i think we can put that to bed...but good try!"

he is also wearing a shield...which he also asked for a million pieces of tape for... and that rolled up piece of paper is his sword. daddy drew that lovely picture on the front...

i love how crazy excited he gets over trash...we have been saving every single container and he brings them to school and they create the coolest stuff with because kids have the best imaginations...i think we have seen yogurt containers be yogurt containers for too many years. he has the amazing gift of being able to picture it as part of a castle...or a bug catcher...or a money tin...or a chandelier...or....or....or...

its why i don't like buying toys for them...its why when i buy toys i like them to evoke the most imagination somehow...its why when we travel i don't like to bring a lot of their stuff - they just end up fighting over it anyway...but just give them a little bit of cardboard and old yogurt containers and they are good to go all afternoon - its truly amazing to me...i know i used to be that way too and it makes me sad i only see yogurt containers...but i think part of the cool thing that parents get to have when they have kids is a second childhood...Disneyland is still cool, but for different reasons - you see it through your kids eyes! Christmas becomes more magical because its up to you to create that magic and that is exciting! You watch them turn recycled paper into shields and swords and you start giving them cool recyclables to turn into cool stuff too...

i want my kids to view their childhood as a little magical...a lot of imagination and a lot of outdoors and i want them to forget those days where mom was so tired she put on cartoons and fell on her face. i know that i for one am in the process of blocking out those days...definitely not magical days :) but seriously - i do want them to use their imaginations for as long as possible...its why i make Zoodies...and it is exactly how i was brought up...which of course was the right way...i mean look at me? *wink* - today's kids spend a lot of time inside and occupy themselves with things that do the imaginary work for them. i know my kids will want to do this to...but as long as i can keep them outside i will! i will until they get too big for me to pick up...which may be any day now for bodie :)