Play Time

We've had a wonderful, pretty relaxing week between Christmas and the New Year. I reallyenjoyed my days home with the kids this week. With Jonathan off of preschool and the holidaysbehind us we just... played. They've been busy with new toys from Christmas and new gamesfrom Jonathan's inventive mind, and I've enjoyed playing with my camera and enjoying my new lens. Here's a spattering of highlights from the week.

Both of the kids have had much fun playing with Abby's new kitchen.

The "grader" at work. Jonathan pulled it out again and exclaimed, "Look Mommy! Look at howlevel the blades are!" Made me think of a teenager admiring a sports vehicle!

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Abby helped me take down the Christmas decorations the other day. She enjoyed putting each of the ornaments into a bag and pulling the magnetic nativity scene off the washer, only after...

... giving Baby Jesus a sip of her milk.

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It was getting dark around 6 when Jonathan was ready to head out to the "construction" site along the side of the house and get some "work" done before we had dinner. With just the spot lights in the backyard for light, this photo of Jonathan and his new shovel (a Christmas gift from his sister) came out looking like he's been put into child labor during the depression!

Abby brought her teddy bear out to the construction site to join her brother. This was met with declarations of, "No babies at the construction site!" ... ... "Right, Mommy? 'Cause it's not safe for babies."

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In the daylight the next day, I took a few pics at his "construction site" to make a 4-part series of photos into 11" x 14" posters with brightly colored borders to decorate Jonathan's room. He's very excited that his own construction site will be featured in his bedroom decor, and we're just waiting for the package from Shutterfly. I call the one above "Portrait of a Backhoe."

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Dinner time.

Abby is quite into coloring for a little 15 month old. She just loves to color, and is quite excited about the new coloring books she got in her stocking. I am deeply grateful to Crayola for the invention of ColorWonder markers. Abby not only loves to color, but she LOVES markers. Crayons are cool, but markers are amazing. She thinks they're portable shape sorter toys and spends forever taking the caps on and off. She likes to carry 3-4 treasured markers around the house together, and she holds them close to her body as though they were powerfully magic and are likely to be stolen away at any moment (true... for I'm forever trying to get them from her). There is no small amount of drama when they're removed from her tight little toddler grasp, and there is no distracting her for the operation. While I've tried straight out insisting that markers don't leave the table, the ensuing tantrums are exhausting, and the joy she gets from carrying them around is intense, though irrational. So, I've given in and let her use her ColorWonder markers to color and to carry... their ink is clear and only shows up on specific paper. I'm sure if I used a black light to reveal all the coloring she's done we would discover that our home would be painted beyond recognition were it not for the invisible ink.

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We've had great success this week allowing Jonathan earn time on preschool iPad games with his good behavior.

I confess it was a bit of a surprise to me that 3 year olds still throw tantrums. I know it's normal in the sense that I would reassure any patient's parent with such concerns that this is typical behavior for the age, but in real life it's just maddening. He's so rational in so many ways. Literally, he sits down at dinner and asks, "How was your day, Mommy?" [waits for an answer]. "Did you see any sick children today, Mommy?" [...waits...] "What were there names?" [Pause] "Did they have a baby brother or baby sister?... But the baby wasn't sick, was he?"... "Did you help him feel better?" I once went on dates with guys who weren't as gifted in conversation. No, for real, I did. So it, understandably I think, takes me by surprise when we've had a lovely time playing at his friends' house and I declare, "Jonathan, give Nathaniel a hug and tell him 'bye-bye.' It's time for us to go home," (after 2 warnings that we were reaching this point)... and the child melts onto the floor and begins wailing as I though I set his beloved monkey on fire. SERIOUSLY?!? Come'on, kid. However, I find everyone I know with a three year old has similar stories. So I've concluded that while we may not be the best available parents, it certainly doesn't make us headline material that our preschooler continues to throw tantrums.

In desperation, I allowed the iPad into the game this week. David and I had a long talk after the holidays, and the next day we sat down with Jonathan to review the two rules and three criteria by which iPad time would be earned. "Honor your father and mother," and "Do everything without complaining." If he can 1) come to dinner 2) clean his toys, and 3) put on pj's and brush teeth -- promptly when asked, without wailing, whining, or complaining, he earns 20 minutes on the iPad in the evening. We've scored 3 of 4 nights, and today was a pretty impressive display of the iPad power.

When I was at the park this afternoon with both kids, I set up the boundaries of play well within my sight, since I had to stay close to Abby while he played. When Jonathan made some new friends, they had trouble keeping their exciting game within the boundaries of my sight [there's a very enticing hill on the other side of the park]. After sufficient reminders, we had to leave the park because of his failure to stay within the boundaries while playing. Though sad with a few tears, he held it together and told me, "I wasn't unkind when we left the park, so I get to play my video time, right?!" Yep.

These were taken before the game with friends began. They did have a chance to run and play for quite a while before the eventual loss of park privileges. It was the first time I've seen my son meet new kids, make friends, create a game, and get enthralled in imaginative play with children he didn't already know. It was really fun to watch.

Happy New Year! We can't wait to see what 2012 has in store.