The Limitless Imagination of a Child-Lets keep it that way!

Aidann & I painted with some water colors today while her sisters slept. We had been painting for quite some time when Aidann suddenly dipped her fingers into the red paint & started rubbing it all over her head! "What are you doing?!", I quickly asked as I grabbed her hands. "I want new hair. I want to paint it red", she replied so matter-of-factly like there was nothing odd about it.... Oh my!

After about an hour of painting, I decided we needed to change it up for some crayons to make a few Valentine's Day cards (Plus, its less messy). Aidy was getting really into her cards, so I slipped away to go & check up on her sisters. By the time I got back, I immediately noticed a new addition to my daughter's face. She had neatly scribbled a goatee on her upper lip & chin & then went right back to making her cards. "What's on your lip?", I asked (trying not to laugh). "Hair", she replied. I had no idea crayon could draw on skin, but apparently my lil' daughter has proven otherwise.

@ least she doesn't have
2 shave

My middle angel, Asher, zoomed through being a baby (on her own accord of course, maybe she knew somehow she had a baby sister coming right behind her). Anyway, she got caught chilling in her lil' sister's swing with her cheese snacks & sippy cup just swinging away. Fast forward to an hour later, she crawled up into her lil sister's other swing, started it up, turned on the music, & went right to sleep. I swear she slept like a baby, at least a full hour. I guess she is making up for lost time. She looked so precious!

Chillin...

Out like a light

The imaginations that some kids have can be so amazing & entertaining! I think as a society we do some unintentional things that begin to hinder it. Kids are naturally inquisitive. They are constant chatter boxes asking the craziest questions about anything & everything. As time goes on "we" start to get tired of all the questions & start to kind of brush them off & shut them down. As a society we also start to make kids realize that some questions will be deemed as "stupid", so they start to get scared to ask. Instead we should encourage our children to ask & even reciprocate with open ended questions in hopes of stimulating that sense of wonder that is naturally in them even more!

Television can also help diminish their imaginations if viewed too often. Its constantly bombarding them with 1 primary sense (visual), not requiring them to really use any other senses to discover or learn further. It plays the story out for them completely, leaving very lil' questions unanswered & not giving them a chance to really create or discover on their own. The underlying violence that is present in some of the programming of today can also leave some negative & lasting affects that can be a detriment to your child. I am not knocking television completely, because it does have some positive aspects, but it should be something used sparingly & closely monitored in the lives of young kids.

Personally, I only let my kids watch "Baby Can Read" & "Sesame Street" every now & then (once they turn 1 1/2 years old). I have really only seen positive differences in them. Aid & Ash would way rather play outside or read a book than sit down & watch television. They can play in a room for hours on end with their toys, thinking of the most crazy & imaginitive things. They love to draw & do various activites & I never hear them say "This is boring". It takes so lil' to absolutely thrill them & stimulate them. I even hear a difference in the way they communicate, using more descriptive words that go beyond just what they see.

The imagination of a child can be such an absolutely beautiful thing, lets treat it with care!

-M&M Momma