Freeing the spirit

One of Squeaks favourite activities/ projects is “washing stuff”. She is very helpful that way. She likes to fill the sink and wash dishes, toys, anything she can get her hands on. She will spend a good amount of time quietly washing and letting things dry.

But when she came to me and asked if she could wash rocks and pine cones that she had picked up along the walk from school to her Grandmother’s place, I didn’t really know how to answer.  Was this taking the “washing of stuff” too far? Washing pine cones and rocks? Would it make a big mess in the sink? Then I started to think whoa what happened to me? Maybe I am getting old and forgetting what it is like to be a child.

When I was an Early Childhood Educator, I was very free spirited. I believed in following the child’s lead when it came to activities and explorations. Why wouldn’t I be like that for my own child? As I looked into the bin full of soil, leaves and anything she picked up, I thought, oh what the heck! Why not, go nuts girl!  And so the pinecones and rocks were washed with love and care by my four-year old.

Shari Nelson is an advertising sales rep at City Parent and a contributor to the magazine’s social media, including Facebook and Twitter. She has a background in Early Child Care Education, a 4-year-old daughter, a 9-year-old dog, and a hamster. She aspires to own chickens and a goat – maybe a farm one day, a dream she shares with her amazing and talented husband.