It’s not that we didn’t need the rain. It has been kind of humid down here in the south. But with the rainy weather comes cries of, “I’m bored,” and the ever popular, “There’s nothing to do.” Tyler, my adorable kid, has more than enough toys, books, games and assorted thing-a-jigs to keep him entertained for hours, even on the rainiest of days. But nonetheless, I was confronted bright and early this otherwise quiet Sunday morning with not only rainy weather but a bored child. So I did what any good mother would do, I got down on the floor and played with him.
Sometimes you just have to, as Nike says, “just do it”. Even though it was only 9 AM and I was still in my pj’s and mind you, I had not finished my first cup of coffee. And anyone who knows me well, knows that
A. I’m a bear without my coffee and
B. I loves me some coffee.
But I digress. So I got down on the floor while Tyler whipped out a big old shoebox full of crayon containing the remnants of 21 different boxes of crayon amassed over the past few months. Sitting next to the crayon box smirked a mountain of coloring books: Curious George, a coloring book on fire safety, some kind of book about trains, a Power Rangers coloring book and many more. I tried to sit Indian style but frankly my legs, once flexible , would not cooperate. So I sat as comfortably as I could. After allowing Tyler first pick from the stash, I decided to go with the coloring book all about trains.
Although I was never one of those kids who liked coloring (something about not being able to color inside the lines), since becoming a mom, I have found that coloring can actually be a really relaxing and stress relieving activity. Don’t believe me? Try it for yourself. I mean it. Stop right now, grab a coloring book and some crayon and color your little heart out. Oh wait, finish reading this first and then go and color.
I have found that no matter what kind of a day I am having when I sit down and color I feel much better even after just a few minutes. When I color I prefer to think outside the box so you won’t see any green trees, blue skies and yellow suns. No, you’re more likely to see pink cows, red elephants and purple bunny rabbits!
I have also found that singing and dancing with Tyler lifts my spirits. Come on now, who can be in a bad mood while singing the hokey pokey? And although I sometimes feel like I will scream if I watch another movie with talking animals, I do love rediscovering some old favorites from my childhood like Charlotte’s Web. And just today we watched Bedknobs and Broomsticks. It’s been so long since I saw it, it was almost like watching it for the first time.
The point is, having kids changes your life in a lot of ways. Yes, you won’t have much money and a good night’s sleep is just a distant fond memory but think of all the neat things you get to do when you are the parent of a young child. Jacks and jump rope and four square and hide and seek and red light, green light. The list goes on and on. I think we worry too much about buying the latest gadget for our kids when if you think about it, all they really need is love and attentive parents. So get down on the floor with your kids and color. Or get up on the floor and do the hokey pokey. What you do with your kids is not as important as the fact that you actually do something fun with them.