Shayla, my 3 yr. old daughter is so sweet in giving me these spring flowers from our backyard. 'Rain Lillies', I think they are called. They came up just within the past few days.
It's funny. She doesn't quite yet get that you can't pick any and all flowers that you want because they're "So Pretty", as she says. When we take walks around the neighborhood I have to stop her from picking freshly planted Spring flowers. We've had the discussion many times about how when we denude baby plants of their flowers that it 'hurts' them and that sometimes they 'die' because of it. We have talked about how the flowers are for enjoying with our eyes only, but I know we are hard pressed to make that stick when she sees me giving flowers to her and mommy at different times throughout the year. What a complex world we live within. ;-)
When we visit our little outdoor restaurants and cafés here in town, Mommy and I have our work cut out for us as we try to keep their newly planted Spring flowerbeds from being ravaged by our sweet child. This provides a little exercise for us as we follow around our flower-fascinated little girl. Yep, you got the picture.
She now knows not to pick them in the first place, but she still can't help herself and still doesn't understand the fact that shoving them back into the bush you picked them from doesn't quite take care of the problem. It is a little funny, but in the name of keeping the plants alive, not ruining the pricey landscaping, and remaining friends with the business owners we do a delicate little dance, indeed. :-) A humorous little dance, to say the least.
It's such a pleasure to watch my daughter Shayla (3 yrs. old) make those social connections with other kiddos. Since she's not quite yet in pre-school she really soaks up the experience whenever she's playing with her peers. We are planning on getting her into some sort of Montessori-based (hopefully) pre-school in the Fall, maybe sooner.
Last night we went to a local establishment called Ruta Maya which is primarily a coffee house. They also have music shows at night and on the weekends. The SXSWi Music, Film and Interactive Festival is going on here in Austin, Texas and last night Ruta Maya hosted a Reggae-themed evening. It was fun watching her dance around the dance floor with the three other kids she made friends with. I love these kid friendly environments:; it certainly makes it easier on us parents. We have many of these venues around Austin: it's another in the growing number of reasons why I love living here. She was playing really well with all these kids. They were all playing well with each other: a parents blessing. I did hear her ordering around a few of the other kids a little bit, which made me instinctively reflect on a couple of things: 1. Hhmmm. "Is this her?", or 2. "Did I teach her this? ...maybe?..?". Then I thought, 3. "Is there a way I can curb an ocassionally overbearing nature in my child?", and 4. "Should I try or would that be squashing her individuality?". Hey, I'm not voting for a bossy child, certainly not in my relationship with her, but I also realize that a lot of this may not really be In my Jurisdiction. Haha. Parents, of course, will get the drift in that one. It certainly doesn't take long before you realize that these little spirits come here with their own little plan in-hand.
We all had fun at Ruta last night, and we even made another potential friend contact for Shayla. Yay! Also, she was so well behaved last night, and we told her so and sung her praises several times on the way home.
Last night we went to a local establishment called Ruta Maya which is primarily a coffee house. They also have music shows at night and on the weekends. The SXSWi Music, Film and Interactive Festival is going on here in Austin, Texas and last night Ruta Maya hosted a Reggae-themed evening. It was fun watching her dance around the dance floor with the three other kids she made friends with. I love these kid friendly environments:; it certainly makes it easier on us parents. We have many of these venues around Austin: it's another in the growing number of reasons why I love living here. She was playing really well with all these kids. They were all playing well with each other: a parents blessing. I did hear her ordering around a few of the other kids a little bit, which made me instinctively reflect on a couple of things: 1. Hhmmm. "Is this her?", or 2. "Did I teach her this? ...maybe?..?". Then I thought, 3. "Is there a way I can curb an ocassionally overbearing nature in my child?", and 4. "Should I try or would that be squashing her individuality?". Hey, I'm not voting for a bossy child, certainly not in my relationship with her, but I also realize that a lot of this may not really be In my Jurisdiction. Haha. Parents, of course, will get the drift in that one. It certainly doesn't take long before you realize that these little spirits come here with their own little plan in-hand.
We all had fun at Ruta last night, and we even made another potential friend contact for Shayla. Yay! Also, she was so well behaved last night, and we told her so and sung her praises several times on the way home.
Shayla just informed her mom and I that the parts of the grapefruit that one does not typically eat are called 'bones'. Pretty much everything else has bones, why not grapefruit? Kiddo perceptions are classic. :-)
