Spirituality and Our Children

Know you what it is to be a child? It is to be something very different than the adult of today.  It is to have a spirit yet streaming from the waters of baptism; it is to believe in love, to believe in loveliness, to believe in belief; it is to be so little that the elves can reach to whisper in your ear; it is to turn pumpkins into coaches, and mice into horses, lowness into loftiness, and nothing into everything, for each child has a fairy godmother in its soul.    

 -Francis Thompson

Quotable Sunday

Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age / The child is grown, and puts away childish things. / Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies. / Nobody that matters, that is.
Edna St. Vincent Millay

Spring Children's Books

Gerda Muller "writes" four of my all-time favorite children's books. There are only four of them, one for each of the seasons, and there are no words, just simple pictures. Spring, which I have recently pulled from the collection in hopes of sunnier days to come, pictures children planting vegetables and adults plowing land. Many of the activities pictured show life a far cry from what our children experience today, and there is something about their simplicity that lends comfort to the reader.
I also just picked up Elsa Beskow's Peter in Blueberry land at the library. Last year, Norah was much to young for her fantastical writing, but this year the book is grabbing her a bit more. Beskow's books require imaginative leaps from their readers that Norah is just not quite ready to make yet, but the pictures are beautiful and spark conversations that take us in a nice direction. This is one book I am going to have to get for our Spring book collection.

Tree Climbin'

With some help from their Nonna, the kiddos discovered a tree at our favorite afternoon spot, Mount Tabor, a few visits ago. They are now stuck to it like glue each time we go to the park. With the recent trips to the ER, the climbing leaves me with a distinct sense of unease, but I fight it, and let them romp and run and climb. This particular tree reminds me of Shell Silverstein's. His base is large and round and seems to be made for small children. His trunk offers a couple places to sit, a nice area to rest your back, and even a slot for a cup or small bowl. I could nestle in there with my knitting and rest for hours if it weren't for the fear of impending disaster looming in Harvey's future. But, I should know better, this old tree is watching over him, keeping him safe, and softening up her rough parts for those unavoidable boy falls that he is surely going to take.

A Sprightly Kind of Play

My favorite place to take the kids in the afternoon is the top of Mount Tabor-- a park on the east end of town. It is a short uphill walk from the parking area to the green space where we plant ourselves for a couple of hours at a time. There is nothing particularly spectacular about the spot (although there is statue of a bronze Harvey)--the views are pretty but not breathtaking--but there is some kind of magic up there. I am sure of it. The worlds that Norah imagines on top of this mountain leave me with no words. She is pictured here with two leaves--birds for her. Her birds flew and ate and danced and flew some more with Harvey in tow all the while. A true wonder to behold. If only my own imagination was still that alive...

Making Play Dough!

A good friend of mine reminded me of the wonders of play dough and children this morning (honestly, the only real memory I have of the stuff outside from making spaghetti with a plastic contraption is eating it, and eating a lot of it, but that is another tory...). So, with an empty afternoon on our hands, we headed to the store for our ingredients and then embarked on our mission.

I found the recipe for homemade play dough here. The whole process took less than 30 minutes, and, as it turned out, the making of it was more fun than the playing with it. Harvey spent most of his time throwing the final product on the floor and Norah spent her time shrieking with frustration at Harvey for throwing it on the floor. Ahhhh... all in a day's work.

Harvey and the Elements

Earth, Wind, Fire and Water





















In more ways than any picture can express, Harvey is always reminding me of how connected we are to the earth around us.

Dare I Say It?

I think that maybe I might have witnessed my two kids playing together just a little bit over the past couple of days maybe. I am holding my breath. I have been scared to out those words into the air because I don't want it to go away like I have noticed and they have noticed that I have noticed and therefore they are going to stop playing together (I think they are playing together--NOT sure) for oh ANOTHER YEAR or so.

They have entertained one another before, that is for sure. Harvey makes Norah laugh and then Norah makes Harvey laugh and this whole episode lasts maybe...10 seconds or so and then they are back to needing all of their entertainment from me Because H and N are only 14 months apart, life has been pretty rocky for their ol' mama. Strangers in Starbucks will sympathize with me when Harvey is on my hip crying and Norah is tugging at my dress crying, but they offer these words of consolation on a very VERY regular basis, "You just wait. It is hard now but you will be so grateful later. They will play together all of the time." I never ask though when this "later" actually arrives. Maybe I don't want to know? What if the answer is, "in five years or so." I think I might die right there on the spot. Or maybe cry. Melt down in a puddle of tears.

Don't mark my words. Pretend that you did not even hear me say this, but I think this later might be starting now.