Small Tomatoes...Monday and Tuesday Class 7

"I just don't have the time."

"I wish I had more time."

"Time is flying by."

"If only there were more hours in the day."

So, I will tell you...The number one response I receive when I tell people my hobbies (Don't worry, most people don't really ask these days...It's more, What do you do?"
anyway...)

After my long, rather passionate reply (which usually freaks out the folks who have never met me (who I typically talk to as if they do know me...))...Ok here it is...

Looks of concern paired with "Oh, I wish I had the time to...bla, bla, bla."

I am interested in what takes up folks time?  

We've got the basics...

Gotta Eat (I agree with this one)

Gotta Sleep (I love this one!)

Gotta Poop (Seems like a waste of time if you ask me, but the body disagrees)... ( I love it when the pictures accidentally correspond with my thoughts, see below)

And, I know what you're thinking...

Gotta Work (I happen to really really like my work and it corresponds with my hobbies...Sorry :(  )...

So, what are we left with?

Oh yeah, The little Varmints....

They are little time consumers...

Buckle in, we're digressing...

You know what we're missing here in Florida?

SNOW.

Ok, I know most of you probably moved here to escape the cold Snowy Winters up north.

However, recently while on Vacation up in the Mountains of Vermont...

We had a couple afternoons where we were all exhausted (2 families, 5 children)... And, our place had No Cable, No Internet, No Wifi, etc...

In Florida, I am huge on yelling (ah-hem..."suggesting") to my kids, "Go Outside and Play."
However, in Vermont, with all the Layers, Snow bibs, Jackets, mitten, hats, etc...
I think we totally would have gone "The Shining" on each other if we had to get dressed in all that gear AGAIN.

Sounds weird but the Daddy's decided to go somewhere, I really don't know where, perhaps they took the Recycling stuff to the recycling plant??
So, the Dads are gone.  (The kids and the Mommies took a deep breath.)

One kid napping, and 3 kids doing Art (not Wonder Studio people, just some simple Crayons, Pencils, Paper)...

And One kid playing with Small Tomatoes.

Yes, I did say, Small Tomatoes.

It's not a game you can buy on Amazon. (at least I don't think...)

They were Tomatoes of the Produce kind...You get them at the grocery store, they are small and rather cute.

This 3 year old boy (who had plenty of actual Toys available to him) (Hey, let's call him Georgie, just for the ease of writing)...

Georgie saw Small Tomatoes on the kitchen counter and thought to himself..."I'm going to play with those."

Luckily, we were all so tired, no one said, "Don't play with those, we're going to eat them later!"

His mom was Knitting by the fire place (I promise you, I'm not making this up...) and I was reading (shocker) by the fireplace.

The other kids were easily directing themselves. 

And, we all pretended not to Notice that Georgie was Talking to small tomatoes.  

But, he had some time to kill...
And, those small tomatoes became his friends.

There are no pictures of the 4 small, round, red tomatoes.  Because, that would have changed the entire nature of his play.  

But, for 45 minutes, maybe longer, Georgie and the small Tomatoes ran from a Big Bear, the small tomatoes talked to Georgie in various voices...and Georgie talked to the small tomatoes. Extreme care was taken with the little guys but they were carried in that green plastic basket all around the living room...Lined up beside me as I read, they were told to sit on the couch, etc...

One of the most beautiful moments of deep Imaginative play I think I will ever witness (and I see kids play A LOT!)...

And, Thank you to our sponsor...

TIME.

And Also, poor weather.

So, if this story interests you at all...
Here's my advice...
We all have hobbies that get us out of the house...Golf, Running, Biking, etc...

And that's great, BUT, we need hobbies IN THE HOUSE too, 
CLEANING DOES NOT COUNT.

SCREEN TIME DOES NOT COUNT.

Something magical happens when your children see you sit down and "play" by yourself.

I like to read (and I am forced to ignore the children during this time, they are getting used to it, don't worry)...Guitar and ukulele are similar in that I ignore most other folks while I am "Playing".

My friend who was Knitting...also a great Home Hobby...she was actually able to knit and somewhat still pay attention to her children...although I noticed she was very careful not to Overtly Notice Georgie's play...(He would have been embarrassed). 

I hate TV.   Gosh, it's a time WASTER.

We all hear it ALL THE TIME, Kids will NOT do as you say, but Kids will do what you do.

Our children need to see their parents PLAY.  Of course, adult play looks different than child's play but they Understand this.

Teach them to take THE TIME.

Make time to Play.

Even, if for 20 minutes a day...

Give yourself the time.

Make the time.

If it helps, Use a timer ;)

I'll never forget the Sage advice a friend (who had already raised his children) offered to me one day while my daughter was still a baby...

He asked me, "What's the Most Precious gift you can give your child?"

I replied, "Love."

"Nope", he said...

"Time."

Time IS Love.  

Time is the actualization of Love.

So, giving ourselves Time shows our children that we Love ourselves and teaches them that this is how we love ourselves and others.

It's no Small Tomatoes. 

But, it's something.