Did you think I meant running? Ha! I wish I ran more but I don't think I will ever run near enough to be labeled as cross country running. Nope; flying across country. I got to fly from California to Oregon to Utah to Colorado and ended up in North Carolina. The best part? I got to pick up my niece, Cheeky Moo Moo, in Utah. We were both thrilled about it and I will admit, I was pretty nervous about the whole thing. I got coloring books and crayons, packed plenty of snacks, and everything.
Because I flew with Southwest, it couldn't be a direct flight, that would have been too easy. Before the crack of dawn, I threw last minute things in my bag and was driven down to the airport. I will refrain from "reading your eyes off" and just say that my in-laws are some amazing, understanding, and accommodating people. I caught my flight and transferred and got in to Utah and waited for my awesome, crazy, cute, wild niece. I could not believe how different and grown up she looked. She is still super tiny and has the best fashion sense. Shoot, I could take lessons from her. I was looking at her later while she was sleeping on the plane and still could not believe how grown up she looked. Her face, I guess because she is so thin has prominent facial features usually only in adults. Her nose especially has that ridge. Anyway...older. Just turned eight, could be closer to 12-14 in the face.
I will be honest, it was quite awkward, we didn't know what to do. We had 2+ hours on our hands, plus the 2 plane rides and a transfer in between. Out comes the coloring books. I was worried about what books that she reads but you can NEVER go wrong with coloring books. Shoot, I was thrilled about getting to color. We made all the other kids jealous.
On the second flight we played with my tablet until she had exhausted the few games I managed to download. I have a game I like but heard, and know, it might be hard for younger kids, shoot, it is a little challenging for me but I taught it to her. You might know it, Sets is the card game (same as the app Triple Play). There are four different traits and three options in each. You are supposed to find sets of three cards where either each trait matches or, more common, each is different. For example, they can all be red, or each must be a different color. Have I lost you? Seems easy but just try it. Cheeky actually picked it up pretty quick and it lasted longer than any other game. She seemed like she liked it more too. Toward the end she was actually getting them faster than I was. I feel like children are not pushed or as encouraged as much as they used to be. They are merely entertained or just given everything. You could tell that something changed when she was challenged. Children are sponges and absorb and learn all the time. If we are not giving them material to learn, and experiences and challenges as well, they will come up dry. I'm not saying that Sets is what every child needs but they can be, and learn, so much more then what we tend to feed them. Not that it's bad, but what do girls learn or develop from being a princess? What problem solving is there? The creativity? The innovation? Choosing whether you want one lump or two in your tea? Or what heels you should wear with what dress? I might be getting a little derailed on a pet peeve but feel like it ties in. Instead of TV, why not challenge our kids? My sister (in-law) was telling me about how important it is for babies to learn to learn to move, crawl, right themselves when they fall, or when something is in their way, that we not immediately fix the problem to stop the crying. We tend to just fix the problem for them, thus children aren't learning self control, problem solving, and personal management and a slew of other skills. I don't have children yet but I hope that I will still feel motivated to have my children involved rather than having the TV babysit them.
Stepping off the soap box. We had a nice time. We landed pretty late. I will spare you the details of the creep next to us that gave us his left over snacks and told us about the girl he just asked out. But we made it out and were excitedly greeted by Cheeky's mom and siblings. Glad I could help a sister out. Now for the two hour drive to the house. But it didn't matter that it was midnight thirty when we pulled into the drive. We were having a good time and showing what all we had learned and knew and wanted to share, including dance moves. The last hour didn't stop a few of us from having a snack. It wasn't until 3-3:30 that I finally just crashed on the couch and insisted on sleep. It is good to be visiting and know it will be crazy.
No comments:
Post a Comment