Very often, the only way to get a quality in reality is to start behaving as if you had it already. That is why children's games are so important. They are always pretending to be grown-ups - playing soldiers, playing shop. But all the time, they are hardening their muscles and sharpening their wits so that the pretence of being grown-up helps them to grow up in earnest.

~C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Hunting for Happies

Yesterday was a rough day.  Oliver woke up whining and crying, and he went to bed whining and crying.  It was one of those days when I wonder why I think it is fun to be a mom and when I am really glad I am not a single parent.  It was one of those days when I had a slightly modified version of a Shel Silverstein poem from Where the Sidewalk Ends stuck in my head:

For Sale

One [toddler] for sale!
One [toddler] for sale!
One crying and [whining] young [toddler] for sale!
I’m really not kidding,
So who’ll start the bidding?
Do I hear the dollar?
A nickel?
A penny?
Oh, isn’t there, isn’t there, isn’t there any
One [person] that will buy this old [toddler] for sale,
This crying and [whining] young [toddler] for sale?

This morning, Oliver woke up crying and whining again.  We needed a change.  Sometimes, when he’s in a mood like that we play a little game.  We send him to find his happies.  I asked him to go find his happies this morning, and here is what he did:



Oh, and in case you are wondering, he was looking for his happies with "Oyama."  That's his imaginary friend.  But more on that another day.




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