Two Things I Love

besides my husband and my three girls, of course! Which would be 4. I love that kids are born with no inhibitions and with a ton of creativity. You probably already know this if you have been following this blog much at all since I talk about both topics a lot.

I love watching both of these things in my girls and I hope that they can keep these two qualities even as they get bigger. They don't have any of those social inhibitions that it seems the rest of us learn so quickly. They feel the freedom to be themselves in the moment and do whatever comes most naturally for them. They don't think about what other people will think of their dancing in the aisles in church, they just dance! Yes, this is what happens every Sunday and is one of the reasons they love going to church, live music to dance to! It is one of the reasons I love going to church! They don't think about the aftermath of their actions, the consequences, they just live absolutely in the moment and enjoy it. They don't think about getting too cold if they jump in a mud puddle when there is snow on the ground outside. They don't think about all the cleanup later if they make mud soup in the bird bath:

This is a lesson I am learning from my girls. So much confidence, so much fun, so much freedom in their actions when they aren't plagued by all the fears and future thinking of us grownups. I hope that my grownup side never squelches this side of them, but rather nurtures it as they explore the world around them with all their senses and no inhibitions.

The second thing I love in my girls is their creativity. Maybe this is even a part of having no inhibitions. They are a blank slate without all the social inhibitions that stifle our own creativity. WE know that there are specific uses for specific things, you have to do it the right way. But I love surrounding my girls with objects and toys that are open ended in their use for their play, objects they can dream up whatever use they want for it. Sometimes I have to resist the urge to rescue them, the urge to show them how to play with something, to show them what to do with their time. They have to get through their own periods of boredom and transition in their play themselves in order for their minds to expand and begin to flow creatively. But when this happens the results are beautiful, so full of life, so unique to who they are and their own individual interests and ways of interacting with the world. It is a way of letting them find themselves, a way of knowing themselves and the world around them. This afternoon Anna made snow castles (yes, this is the same girl you saw dressed in a snowsuit, boots, hat, mittens and big, poofy jacket yesterday):

That's her snow castle she's showing off just to her left. I had never heard of snow castles! Mitch asked her how she did it later and she replied "I fill up my big cup with a lot, lot, lot of snow and then I go bop-bop-bop with my shovel. But one time it didn't work and I went bop-bop and it made a mess, a big mess!" (lots of gesturing and big grin to match!)

So there you go, a creative afternoon with no inhibitions. And to top it off, for your viewing pleasure here's a little video of them doing/singing "This is the way the way the ladies ride", and then "This is the way the cowboys ride" (Those are my snow pants Anna is wearing all the way up to her chin. It was quite hilarious, sometimes when the horse bucked her off she had no hands to catch herself and she face planted amidst lots of giggles):