Sunday, February 27, 2011

Monkey See...Monkey Do...

Children are incredibly interesting to watch. Sitting at a slight distance absorbing all of their sayings and ideas is far more entertaining than any episode of Grey's Anatomy. Side Bar: Is anyone else as bored with Grey's as I am right now? Dark and Twisty Meredith was much better TV material than Shiny and Happy Meredith. Side Bar over.


Children imitate the adults in their lives. Layton loves to slide on a pair of Jay's boots, walk into the kitchen, and ask me "what's for eat for dinner?" That's Layton speak for What's for Dinner? The boots come all the way up his legs and the leather wads around his ankles. But he feels like a big man wearing daddy's boots.

It's the same way Ella likes to swipe my lip gloss across her mouth, or Hadley likes to wear my earrings. Children copy their parents.

Oh, and the imagination of a child? The power of Hadley's imagination could fuel an army of trucks if there were a way to bottle it. She thinks up stories and outlines games for the younger children to play. If I close my eyes, I can hear her telling Ella and Charsy, "Now pretend that I am the mommy of this young puppy. You will see me and need my help. Don't wake the puppy though." They love to play "dog." That's what I call it. They each pretend to be a certain breed of dog and crawl all over the house.

I could sit for hours and watch them color. Rarely do the markings stay inside the lines, but that's the best part. My children color the way they want, no matter what other Monkeys tell them to do. Live it big, little ones.