Lessons from a 2 year old!

I am continually amazed at the lessons that I learn from my two year old!

Today, Teagan and I were playing with some homemade play dough*, and I gave him a pretty good chunk and was playing with my little piece, and I made a little bear. I set it aside and played with the rest of my dough. Teagan kept trying to grab my little bear, so I kept moving it farther away. I like to think that I am pretty creative, and I thought my bear was cool, and I didn't want Teagan to destroy him. (this play dough dries and so you can keep your creations.) Finally Teagan looked at me and said "Phhhh" (or in Teagan language "Please") and as I looked at him, I thought, why would I keep that stupid bear? Yeah, it's cool but not that cool, so I handed Teagan my little bear. He picked it up and gave it a hug, and in the process squeezed it into a little ball of blue dough.

How many times do I move something out of reach of my child, because it's too fragile, or too messy, or too... Whatever? Who cares if the pages of that neat children's book I bought get a little dirty, or maybe bent, or even torn? If my child never reads the book, what have I benefited from purchasing the book? If I don't let my child use the old box of Goodwill clothes for dress up for an afternoon, what little bits of imagination am I shutting out? And why can't I pull that picture off the wall and let him get his little fingerprints on the glass. They are so easy to clean!!! Last night when it was raining (for the first time in months) why did I grab Teagan and run to the car and get him in as fast as I could? Why couldn't I let him run with me and why couldn't we splash in every puddle that we came across? Why can't he stop and examine and pick up EVERY single rock that we pass when we go get the mail every afternoon? Why am I in such a hurry?

Just a little something that I have been pondering today, and I thought I would share it!

*The play dough was really fun, and not very messy.
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 cup of water
and some food coloring.

If you want to keep your creation, just bake it 200 Degrees for 2-3 hours or you can set it out and it will air dry. This dough is really good for making hand prints and preserving them.