Thumbs in the thumb place…. This will be a good week to add to your child’s vocabulary: words that describe the weather, colors, temperature and textures. Our children have lots of words for wet and rain but not as many about cold weather. The snow we had will give you an opportunity to add those words to their vocabulary with an understanding of the cold snow. We will have a chance to talk about textures this week along with colors. The children will be playing matching games with colored mitten cards. You can extend that play with giving them things to match at home – socks when you are doing laundry, spoons/forks when unloading the dishwasher and putting the silverware away, memory card games and picture dominoes are fun both for learning how to play a game as well as matching the pictures.
As I wrote this note I remembered when Joel was 9 months old he was sitting on the couch with me while I was folding laundry. He had picked up the cordless phone and I finished folding the towel and then took it away from him. Just as I was about to set it down the phone rang. I answered and the person says: This is the Seattle Police Department. We just received a 9-1-1 from this number. I was shocked and explained my son had been holding the phone and must have pushed the button for 911. She informed me I needed to have a discussion with my son and let him know the seriousness of calling the police. I explained to her I would but that he was only 9 months old. Ha!My mom had her class do the math to figure out what the chances were to randomly call 9-1-1 on your phone. It was definitely not something I would ever have thought he would do in a few seconds while he sat on the couch next to me!
As I am remembering this event I was thinking about the world we are living in right now — things are happening that we would never have imagined could happen. Please, take some time to focus on something positive today. For me mittens are cozy and remind me of fun walks in the snow with my family or by myself. I love the quiet beauty of a winter snowfall. It is so magical to take a long walk in the snow. My sister knows how much I love the snow and for Christmas she knit me the most beautiful pair of mittens. Now I will think of her as I go for my walks in the snow. We did not get along as children so it is nice to know that we have a wonderful relationship now and can share family memories that no one but family would know. I have always been so happy that Joel and Nick have always been best friends. It makes me so happy to hear them laughing together and remembering fun times they had together as they grew up. Laughter brings me joy — which may be another reason I love snow so much — children laughing is always something I hear while on my snow walks. Children’s laughter brings me joy, hope and memories of fun times with my family. Please, find a time to laugh with your child this week.