Shayla is attending a daytime yoga camp this week and she is having such a fun time! It's great to see! Our daughter has really been in need of the peer to peer socialization that comes naturally when they are with their contemporaries every day. We try to set up adequate numbers of play-dates for our 4 year old, but many times, even with our determination and persistence, they'll fall through for one reason or another, as everything has to line up just so between the parents' and kids' schedules. It's nice to see that this kiddie camp is working out sweetly! Thanks Nana!! More info is on the way as soon as I get a web link from the developers/administrators of the program....
Waiting for your four year old daughter to come back out of the girls' restroom at your local coffee haunt, and trying to resist the urge to check on her every 30-45 secs. Yes, without a doubt, that's stressful. I'm thinking, "Please don't turn this into a scientist's restroom R&D field trip!" Yes..'we' are still new at this sort of thing.
My four year old is magnetically drawn to the dirt on our property. It's the first material that she wants to get her hands on once she's outside, and yet it's the one thing that we don't really want inside. Go figure.
She comes out in her new, clean clothes, and has this irrepressible drive to then go and baptize herself in the dirt that she can find in our yard. To me, it's very similar to how our cat initially behaves once we've let her outside. The two of them have this strong behavioral trait in common: the desire, once clean, to go out and roll around in the dirt.
Today, I told her that if she did that that I was going to have to spray her down with the water hose before she went back inside. My intention was to dissuade her from the activity, but instead it has seemed to fuel it. It's now become a game. She comes out, gets dirty. We go to the backyard. I spray her down. She goes inside, finds a towel to dry herself, stays in for a bit, then comes back outside and we repeat the process.
What fun, right? Oh yeah, and let's not slip on the tile (inside) along the way.
....And so it goes....
I let it go on for a little bit, then I put an abrupt end to this 'game'. Thank you, but daddy has had enough. :)
Yes, that's right. It's the age of tiaras and fairy wands. I had to steer her away from her more elaborate velveteen winter dresses today. :)
Just today, my 4 year old daughter dawned a sopping wet face towel and informed me that she was going to "clean all the 'dirty' and 'sticky' spots on the (tile) floor".
"Is that alright with you Daddy?", she asked.
'Absolutely", I said not wanting to disuade her from her spontaneous cleaning mood.
After a few minutes I inspected some of the tiles she was wiping down and realized that the face towel was far too loaded down with water. She was going to be unintentionally creating a temporary domestic hazard as all the tiles she had wiped were glistening wet with her good intentions.
"Wait. We've got to wring that out just a little bit", I said. She handed me the towel and I went and squeezed it out in the sink and handed the truly damp face cloth back to her. "Here you go. Now you're ready to do your magic", I said. "Thanks Daddy", she replied.
"Your welcome. Thank you", I praised!
With that she was off, diligently crawling around on the floor cleaning what she decided were sticky or dirty spots. I certainly didn't want to steal my child's thunder on this one. I cheered from the sidelines every so often "You go Girl"!
It makes me wonder how it will be further on down the road. Will she continue to actually 'want' to help with the family chores? Perhaps. It could actually happen. It was fun to watch. She even went into the bathroom and wiped down what she could reach of the basin's mirrors.
I made a point of giving her a final praising when she was done. Then she shared with me a little 'cleaning song' that she had created as she was tidying up the premesis according to her own judgment of what exactly needed her expert attention. It was very cute, both the song and her aspiration to help with a domestic task. I have been employing her talents a lot lately as she is thrilled and eager to help. She has been my little 'fetcher' for various items that I require at different times. She has been eager to help and I have been happy to enlist her help as I have realized she is capable. The tasks still have to be chaperoned to a certain degree, but that is expected although it seems a little less so as time goes on. It's a blessing to have such an enthusiastic little helper in the house!
"Is that alright with you Daddy?", she asked.
'Absolutely", I said not wanting to disuade her from her spontaneous cleaning mood.
After a few minutes I inspected some of the tiles she was wiping down and realized that the face towel was far too loaded down with water. She was going to be unintentionally creating a temporary domestic hazard as all the tiles she had wiped were glistening wet with her good intentions.
"Wait. We've got to wring that out just a little bit", I said. She handed me the towel and I went and squeezed it out in the sink and handed the truly damp face cloth back to her. "Here you go. Now you're ready to do your magic", I said. "Thanks Daddy", she replied.
"Your welcome. Thank you", I praised!
With that she was off, diligently crawling around on the floor cleaning what she decided were sticky or dirty spots. I certainly didn't want to steal my child's thunder on this one. I cheered from the sidelines every so often "You go Girl"!
It makes me wonder how it will be further on down the road. Will she continue to actually 'want' to help with the family chores? Perhaps. It could actually happen. It was fun to watch. She even went into the bathroom and wiped down what she could reach of the basin's mirrors.
I made a point of giving her a final praising when she was done. Then she shared with me a little 'cleaning song' that she had created as she was tidying up the premesis according to her own judgment of what exactly needed her expert attention. It was very cute, both the song and her aspiration to help with a domestic task. I have been employing her talents a lot lately as she is thrilled and eager to help. She has been my little 'fetcher' for various items that I require at different times. She has been eager to help and I have been happy to enlist her help as I have realized she is capable. The tasks still have to be chaperoned to a certain degree, but that is expected although it seems a little less so as time goes on. It's a blessing to have such an enthusiastic little helper in the house!