A couple of things happened this week with my two year old that made me really stop and think about how she perceives things.
OH-OH!
We were in the kitchen on Wednesday morning getting her older brother's lunch ready for school. I had the jar of jam (made of glass - see where this is headed?) on the kitchen counter and she wanted to 'help' and give it to me. I had my back to her and didn't see her grab the jar. The next thing I heard was a splat/crash sound. I turned around and there she was standing barefoot in the middle of a mess of pieces of glass and jam. Quick as a flash I picked her up and sat her on the counter to check her feet and legs for any pieces of glass. I was barefoot as well and a couple of meters from her so I don't know how I got to her without getting cut myself. I did pick a couple of pieces of glass off her feet that were really tiny but that was about it. No cuts, no crying and we were OK.
Out of all this the thing that stuck in my mind was her face the minute I turned around. Her big brown eyes were like saucers and she was sooo quiet - frozen. She was completely waiting for my reaction. I didn't want her to move and the first thing out of my mouth was "it's oK. it was just an accident". Her body languaje changed from poised "ready-to get-in-trouble" to relaxed in an instant and that's when I grabbed her. To me this was the epitomy of how words can have such an impact on anyone depending on what you say and how you say it.
SPOOKY ART
Yesterday I went to the musuem to see the Basquiat exhibit. D was in school so I just took C with me. Amazingly she let me hold her the whole time (vs the usual chasing her around everywhere as I'm saying 'don't touch' a million times) and she was really intrigued by all the paintings. Basquiat's paintings are very expressive and in several instances he shows the human form in a very outlined/skeletal way. My little one caught on to the "skeletal" looking part of that. She would point to the human figures and look at me, chatter her teeth, mumble something like "ooooohh! sppoooooky" and then laugh out loud. That's kind of what she does when she sees Scooby Doo...LOL! I was happy that she enjoyed the whole experience more than I thought she would. She was more engaged than I thought she'd be.
Kids are always amazingly spontaneous and react in ways that still surprise and delight me. I wish as adults we could still hold on to some of their simple/straight to the point ideas and see the things for what they are and not for what we imagine them to be. Ok enough philosphy for one morning. It's really windy out today. Who wants to go fly a kite with me?
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