Sometimes They Just Make You So Proud

AJ has shown real empathy a few times now for some of her friends without me helping her. And each time I feel so proud. The first time was at little gym when the kids were putting the balls away (a favorite activity for all the kids, not sure why the same excitement doesn't happen with toys at home). AJ has put her ball away and was looking for more to put in when a younger boy dropped his and my quick little AJ swooped it up to put in the bag. Of course the little boy started to cry so AJ gave the little boy back the ball instead of putting it in the bag.

Another time was playing with our good friends next door when our little friend M, in typical toddler fashion, seemed to be wanting to play with everything AJ picked up (when we are at our house we have the reverse problem). One time it was a baby doll AJ had picked up and M started to cry so without my help AJ walked over and gave M the baby doll. It was just too cute.

Of course there are still times when thus does not happen, but I cherish when it does.

The Power of Uninterrupted Play

I have been following Janet Lansbury Elevating Childcare for a while now on Facebook. She follows an RIE approach. What I gain from reading her posts is the importance of letting kids play without any interruptions. Interruptions can come from anywhere but the biggest interruption in our house was ME! I thought I was helping her imaginative play but many times I was getting in the way of the plan she was working. This does not mean that I am no longer in the room, in fact it is quite the opposite. I am observing AJ and finding out what she is interested in and trying to make sense of. Sometimes she looks at me to confirm what she is doing, but mostly it is just her playing. AJ gets all her ideas on her own and most are things that we do or she sees mom or dad do. So cute!

In the first picture AJ is having the animals get into the tractor and go back and forth to grandma's house (the brown basket) The did this for no less than 25 minutes. The second is AJ paying the meter (can you tell we live in the city). She found a few coins and uses the door handle hole as the meter. I just love the creativity. So much better than having a toy parking meter.