Pieces of Play

 

There comes a point in your parenting journey that you are able to recognize habits of specific children. For example this corner of my room. I dashed upstairs to get a pair of socks only to notice this little pile of things in the corner near the door. I knew this was the abruptly abandoned collection left behind by Janie. An adorable vignette of play. My new tote she found and hung up, no wonder what kind of bits she placed inside to use later. My pink hand knit cowl, because it’s pink and soft and did I mention pink? She found my polished stone necklace, a gift from my Alaskan friend. My hand turned maple wooden bowl gifted to me by the Mister. A beloved piece that has a way of making its rounds all over the house. Inside the bowl a roses headband from our Day of the Dead display. (So that’s where that went!) A grass basket made in Ecuador, a gift from a beloved childhood neighbor. Inside some of her favorite picks from my stretchy bracelet collection. Addie’s kitty doll adorned with a sparkly bracelet. (Again another MIA item that has been “found”.) The vintage red velvet gold trimmed jewelry box likely with plastic gems inside. Peeking out from under the dresser the Wind in the Willows book, the Mister’s favorite childhood story. All things that were part of her great moment lost in imagination left behind in our haste to dash off to music class. These are the reminders of our sweet littles who leave clues to their personalities on the floor in your room. I took this picture last week and left all of it as it was to be played with later. She did pop in a few times adding and removing things otherwise I have not touched it. This morning I put away my necklace and wooden bowl as DK discovered them and was eager to discover their application in his physics experiments. Ahem: that means being tossed downstairs. The remainder made their way to her room for another day. Except my tote. That she had to leave behind. I’d like to officially use it first! You know, before it ends up belonging to her.