Make Me Smile Monday

Children are very easily entertained. They are so full of life and quick to make a game out of everything. This morning as I was helping J (my 4 year old) make his bed I was reminded of that.

When S (my firstborn) was only a year or two I discovered something. Whenever I would be making a bed, she would think it was the greatest thing ever to crawl underneath the sheet or blanket as it's up in the air (everybody makes their beds that way, right?) and "hide" under sheet or blanket. It quickly turned into a game where I would smooth the blankets all around her and pretend I couldn't figure out what the big lump was. (I have a feeling this is a pretty common occurance among parents with young children.)  She would giggle and squirm until I would throw the blanket back and gasp, "That's not a lump! That's my S!!!".

And of course both R and J loved this game as well. This morning it occured to me that both my girls have outgrown this, and it won't be long before my son does as well. By now he knows he's not really fooling me. He's aware that I know he's the lump but he's still young enough to pretend that I don't. So for the time being I'm going to take those extra few minutes whenever I can and enjoy the golden sound of his laughter, the joy on his face over one of life's simple pleasures.

Make Me Smile Monday

I'm looking for a line dancing instructor for a kids summer program I'm planning. There's a lady here in town who does this but I haven't been able to track her down. So, after doing a quick google search I dicovered there's a seniors group that meets every Monday morning to line dance. When I made the call I was immediately invited to go this morning and talk to the group myself. :)

So, today J and I went over to one of our town's rec centres to meet the lovely lady D I spoke with on the phone just yesterday. Dancing had already begun and there were a few people standing in the front entrance chatting amongst themselves. They greeted us warmly and asked if we were coming to dance with them. They talked to J and asked for his name and admired his Curious George shirt. D saw us come in from the other side of the room and she came over right away to greet us. She brought me up to the front and passed me the mic so I could make the invitation myself. 

After the invitation went out they went back to dancing. There were probably about 25 people there probably ranging from mid 50's to early 70's. They were dancing, smiling, laughing and full of life. But as I was sitting there watching I was thinking this is what life is all about...connecting with people, embracing the things we love and actually living!

Maybe I'm alone in this, but how incredible is that? And I don't just mean the dancing but the open, warm and all-inclusive way they welcomed us in. Because when I think about it, I'm not sure I would've had gotten the same welcome had the demographic been 20 to 30 years younger. And I can't help but wonder why that is? It was probably the single most inviting place I've ever walked into in my entire life.

I hope that at the end of my life people look back and say that I embraced it. That I didn't shy away from doing the things I loved because of fear or insecurity. I hope people say that I pushed myself beyond my natural comfort zone over and over again until it was miles bigger than it was when I began! I hope that people will say I was warm and inviting, and I always had a smile on my face. As adults, life can be busy and our responsibilities can sometimes distract us from lifes simple pleasures. I don't want to wait until I'm close to retirement to have be seen as a warm, inviting, brave individual. Besides, the danger is great that if I wait until then I might not be able to make the transition.

And for all of you, I hope that you take the time to do the things you enjoy regularly, that you connect with family and friends often and that your beautiful smile and sincere laughter are a part of your everyday life!

Make Me Smile Monday

My little man J turns 4 in just under a week, which is hard to believe. It's funny because he's 1 1/2 years older than S (our firstborn) was when we bought our first house 7 years ago. I remember how big Jason and I felt like she had grown. I can only imagine what it will be like to look back on this stage in another, say, ten years.

The other day when he was playing with his sisters I heard him call "Mother Gothel" (from the movie Tangled) "Mother Gobble", which for some reason I just think is the cutest thing ever. He has a very clear understanding that Mother Gothel is bad and likes to say that "she doesn't know best...she knows worst". (In response to the song Mother Gothel's character sings called "Mother Knows Best".)

He also likes to tell us that "Sidwey Wosby from the Pittsburgh Pengwens" is his favourite. And just recently I noticed that despite the fact he can say Nana and Ba, for some reason he can't seem to tie them together and say Banana. It always comes out Wana or Bawana. :)

I've always enjoyed the cute way my children say things as their learning to talk and marvel at the way their vocabularies clean up and those mispronounced words eventually disappear completely. But this time around there also seems to be this realization that he's my "baby" and once he loses all of his toddler vernacular I won't ever get to experience this with another child again. So I guess you could say I've been feeling a bit nostalgic lately. Feeling overwhelmingly blessed to have three healthy children with healthy speech development (something I never want to take for granted).

Right now the cute way J pronounces things is just that, it's cute. But one day the way he used to pronounce things will be a cherished memory. And if we're fortunate enough we may just just get the chance one day when he's a teenager to share those stories with his friends so he can pretend to be embarassed while secretly loving the attention. ;)