We aren’t getting any younger. No one is. But as we age, so do our grandchildren, which means we get to be distracted by them as they discover the world even if we have long since ceased to be excited by the effect of splattered mud on our clean clothes. John and I had a very full and satisfying Easter weekend this year. Usually we have Easter Sunday dinner with all of our children, their spouses, and the grandchildren. This year we switched the gathering to Easter Saturday in order to spare my daughters the torture of dragging tired, crabby toddlers and babies from one event to another – from church, to Grandma’s house, and maybe a late afternoon visit with the in-laws. By having the festivities on Saturday, they would have nothing to do but visit with us and relax.
Since Ryan and his cousin Caleb will be turning three this coming summer, it follows that now is the time to start planning adventures with the little guys. This Saturday’s adventure involved Grandpa, the Dads, and a posse of other family members, taking the boys to Lake Katherine Nature Preserve to see the variety of birds who have taken up nesting there. The moms stayed behind. Me to do the cooking and my daughters to try to get the babies down for naps. The adventure at Lake Katherine was more successful than the naptime attempt.
Knowing that the abundance of rain would have left mud puddles along the path, I warned the girls to bring the boys’ wellies and extra clothes.
If you think about it, running and stomping through puddles is a lost art. Most kids don’t have the time to indulge in mud puddles and if they did have the inclination, getting physically dirty is a rare happening on the streets of America. Keeping kids in front of the TV or on the computer doesn’t do anything for their brains, but it does keep them clean.
