Free to be you and me

I while back I was at a dinner party with a friend. My friend was pregnant with her first child. She was expressing a fear that I think a lot of parents have. She was afraid her daughter would become a person she could not relate to. She said that she was worried that her daughter would grow up to be in to football and cheer leading and make up and all of the things that she knew nothing about. Another woman at the table said, "If you don't raise her to be that way then she won't turn out like that." It just made me chuckle.

Every single one of my children were born with their very own personality. If I would have chosen for them how they would have turned out...well...I would have gotten it all wrong. My oldest "Ivy" is 12. She never wanted to wear the clothes that I picked out for her. She never wanted to read the books I loved as a child. And you know what? That is okay. She has her own style, she likes her own things. I loved to read historical fiction when I was her age. She is writing her own fantasy novel. I liked rock music, she loves top 40. I was in art, she loves the theater and dance. I love that she is her own person. I wouldn't change a thing about her. I may not understand her all the time, but I love her.

"Birdy" is my middle child. Right now she goes to a preschool (we are almost done and then its "stay home with mommy time") where all the little girls show up looking like pictures out of a catalog. Its hard sometimes not fall in to the trap, but Birdy made it very clear that she was not going to wear bows in her hair. She was not going to wear adorable little dresses and she was not going to wear lacy socks or mary janes. She was not going to let any one dress her like a doll. And you know what? That is okay. She is not a doll. She is a person, with her own opinions and ideas. Every day she is learning more and more about herself. She is discovering her likes and dislikes and who she wants to be as a person. What a disservice I would be doing for her if I denied her that opportunity by forcing my own will on her all the time.

Now, of course, there is a time and a place for mommy to be the boss. I don't want any one to think that I just let my children rule the roost, but some things have to be their own. "Bug" is turning 1 year old soon. He is already beginning this journey of self discovery that his sisters have been on. He will learn and grow and find out all of his likes and dislikes. I may have my own ideas of how he will turn out, but if there is one thing my other two have taught me its that he will find his own path. And you know what? That is okay.

More fun with tents

So I mentioned that Birdy is WAY in to tent making, right? Well here is another example of our tent making madness. Birdy wanted to go camping, but unfortunately it was raining. I think what she really wanted was camping food, which is defined by Birdy as "food on a stick." So we went ahead and set up our camping site in the living room. A camp fire was necessary and if Birdy had it her way we would have had an actual fire in the middle of the living room. I talked her in to a pretend one instead. Birdy spent the afternoon "camping" in her tent. She ate her "camp food", read books, played with Bug, pulled out her sleeping bag and took and nap. The best part about an indoor camp out is that it can be clothing optional, which seems to be the way Birdy likes things these days. We are a bit hung up on tents for the time being. Maybe soon we will get on to another theme and my posts wont be quite so redundant.

Thanks for stopping by!

Spelunking

Lately Birdy has been way in to tent making. She loves to take all of the sheets out of the linen closet and create huge tents which fill up her bed room. Today I thought it might be fun to take it a step further. I went out to the garage and pulled out several cardboard boxes. We set them up in the living room with chairs and other pieces of furniture and then draped blankets and sheets over all the joints where box and furniture met to make our own little living room cave to explore.
Our adventure required some special equipment. A flash light to start with, because it gets very dark in these caves.

 Some crayons so we could create our own cave art. And a camera to capture all the fun.

Bug was a little nervous at first but once he saw his sister crawl in, he decided he could brave the cave too. It was a little difficult to navigate some of these tight places. Corners were the worst! Bug and Birdy had a much easier time of it than Mommy. Our card board caves stayed up all afternoon and we played many many games with them. Bug loved to chase Mommy around through the caves, while Birdy tried to shut Bug and Mommy up IN the caves. This evening the caves are tucked away back in the garage, but we had such a fun afternoon on our adventure, I just can't stand to throw them out. I have a feeling we will be dragging them out again real soon.