My Childhood Revisited

At many times throughout my days with my four and five-year-olds, I get a glimpse of myself as a kid.  Two memories in particular have been revisited recently.

1. Evie's singing "shows"

We are discovering that Evie really enjoys singing and performing for an audience of 1, herself.  The Frozen karaoke machine resurfaced from the basement, which gave the kids their own CD player to destroy control the music choice and volume.  I gave them a few CDs to scratch use.  Yes, we still use CDs in this old school house.  The kids really like to jam out to Fresh Beat Band, the Now and Then Soundtrack, and a mixed-CD of Disney tunes.  And when I say "jam" I mean have the volume at a ridiculously high level, hit the pause button 16 times during a song, and change songs constantly.  A "show" always involves removing the area rug and turning off all the lights.

While it is tempting to turn down the volume and demand them to lower their loud singing through the mic, I try to remember how much fun I had doing similar things as a little girl (and remember my mom turning down the volume to my dismay).   I would put on a show to my imaginary audience in our basement.  The cassette tape player was upstairs (speakers downstairs), so I think there was a lot of up and down to get the right song on.  I'm pretty sure it was pre- and post-dinner event like it is turning into at our house.

Let's see how much longer it is until Evie invites over the neighbors and puts on a "concert" from the top of the picnic table like her mother did....

2. Puzzles

This right here is mama's boy.  My four-year-old will sit with me for 30 minutes and tackle a 550 piece jigsaw puzzle.  With our kitchen table leaf permanently in, we have lots of extra room to leave out a puzzle for days.  When mama starts feeling overwhelmed or the kids ask for more screen time, mama suggests a puzzle.  It is my stress-reliever and I am overjoyed that Braylen has my puzzle-wizard gene.  I love watching him pick up a piece and logically think about where it could go.  That border section in the picture he did all by himself in no time at all.  It's becoming our special time to hang out and talk without the distractions of screens.  I know Nana is smiling down from Heaven when she sees me doing puzzles; this was always a special time with her, in particular at Ocean City on vacation.  

These are some fun and wonder filled preschool years.  I need to be less distracted by the crud on Facebook and more invested in enjoying these innocent, playful times in their lives.  It's a scary, Godless world out there; can I just keep them preschoolers forever?