Saturday, August 10, 2013

growing up

There's a strange tension to be felt as children grow older.  On the one hand, there's a part of me wishes I could keep them little just a bit longer--preserve that sweetness and innocence and cuteness.  But I have to admit there are moments where I'm just so proud of how they're maturing that I wouldn't have it any other way.

Yesterday I had started some laundry, but I'll confess to forgetting to shift it over to the dryer when it was finished.  My allergies are acting up this week, so I feel lousy, I got busy with the baby, and I just plain forgot.  

The girls headed downstairs to brush teeth.  I was feeding and diapering the little one, but I realized that they were taking an awfully long time.  What on earth were they doing?

Natalie finally wandered up the stairs.  I asked her about the delay, and she proudly told me, "We were doing laundry!"  Sure enough, I could hear the dryer going.  They had taken it upon themselves to switch the laundry over for me.  C'mon now, all together:  awwwwwwww....

As a funny side note to the whole growing up thing: Sarah is definitely a child of the modern era.  She happens to love the Beach Boys' music.  The other day, she was listening to the song "Kokomo."  Nelson and I reminisced on it being popular when we were in elementary school.  Sarah then chirped, "So this is what everyone had for their ring tones on their phones?"

Um, suuuuure...

Friday, August 9, 2013

a horse is a horse of course of course

It started with My Little Pony.  We don't have cable, but the girls know how to rock YouTube.  They watched the modern-day "Friendship Is Magic" MLP.  They watched the 1980s G1 MLP that I grew up with.  They watched two incarnations of the show I never even knew existed.  They watched them all--over and over again.  

They started collecting MLP toys at birthdays and Christmas and other such things.  I felt like I was living in My Little Pony world.

Somewhere along the way, though, it shifted.  Suddenly it wasn't just these cartoon ponies captivating the girls--it was horses in general.  They are enthralled with all things equine.  They get horse books from the library (non-fiction ones, no less)--every time we go.  They love spotting horses when we're out driving.  Natalie does a pretty spot-on neighing sound.  They have added some really realistic-looking horse figurines to their toy collection.  They love them.  

Reading the library books with them has taught me a thing or two I didn't know (I can't say I was ever much of a horse fan, so it's not hard).  I think we might kick off the school year with a horse unit study I have--both girls will enjoy that, and it might help us ease back into the school routine.  Might as well leverage their obsession while I can, right?