My little kids currently range in age from 3 to 6 years old. I’ve recently started thinking of this season as The Wonder Years. It’s a sweet time where they are discovering things about life that the rest of us take for granted. Their play is full of imagination and the storylines are often hilarious to me. They truly live in the moment as they can’t tell time and don’t quite have a grasp on the cyclical nature of days, months, and years. Here are some ways I’m enjoying this season of parenting.
Leave The Sparkles
My youngest loves skirts. Her favorite is covered with pink sequins and she calls it her sparkle skirt. It has been dropping sequins for some time now and we find them in the oddest places. We’ve found them in every room of the house. I don’t go to a lot of effort to clean them up because they make me smile. It’s like we have a little fairy dropping fairy dust everywhere she goes. Soon the sparkle skirt will be outgrown and l like the thought of happening upon a sequin in the corner of the kitchen when I least expect it.
Join In Their Play
One great thing about having kids close in age is that they have built-in playmates. I don’t often feel drained by constant appeals to play with them, and I’m glad for that. But they love it when I initiate a game of tag, hide and seek, or Candyland. Games are a great opportunity to build connection, practice emerging skills (reading, math, gross motor, fine motor, social, communication, strategy, etc), get physical exercise, relieve stress, and more! My oldest has been playing a Lego Harry Potter game with me on his Kindle Fire tablet, which we both enjoy. However the play is structured, saying yes to joining in can lighten the mood, shift energy, and create opportunities for laughter and joy.
Explore The World
I like to take my kids interesting places. In the past month, we’ve ridden rollercoasters, visited a dairy farm, gone underground in a cave, checked out materials from three different library branches, taken nature walks, said hello to our animal friends at the zoo, enjoyed activities at Storybook Farm, and more. I never really shied away from taking them out as babies and toddlers, but it certainly is easier now that they have more stamina to walk and can do more on their own. I also keep a running list of places to go when they’re just a bit bigger too.
Keep Their Memories Alive
At their young ages, they reference everything in the past as either “last night” or “a long time ago”. My five-year-old was looking through a photo book with her younger sister and told her it was “in the olden days” when the younger one was a baby. They like hearing about what they were like as babies, trips we’ve taken together, early birthday celebrations, and everyday recollections. Retelling their stories strengthens their sense of who they are. The holidays are a wonderful time to reminisce and make new memories together, both through family traditions and special events.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s a wonderful life. These are the wonder years.
