Just now, I catch my youngest daughter and her friend plotting.
"Let's get in our bathing suits. You get on the swing. I'll spray you with water as you swing. It will be just like a water park in your yard."
"Yeah! Let's do it! Run! Hurry!"
The older daughter rushes to be part of the action. I'm sitting in the kitchen hearing shouts and squeals and giggles.
I realize that they can plot their own afternoon. They love to plot! They love to devise, make secret plans, and find adventure. Why should I do it when they can?
I remember that when I'm tempted to over-schedule or pay for planned childhood diversions, I should sit back and let the afternoon unfold, unmediated and unstructured.
When I do, they plot.
Living with flair means stepping away from the cliche plan (the expensive, contrived, and media-constructed one) to let the experts write the script. It means I let my children plot.
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Do you remember afternoon adventures that you wrote yourself?
1 comment:
Love this! I found you on The High Calling and popped over. Glad to hear your children coming up with plans of total world dominion. I think that's the best part about childhood - they aren't yet jaded and are free to make up their own rules.
Amanda Hill
www.hillpen.com
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