Last week, my little girl returned with an oyster shell from her grandparent's house, in addition to 2 toys (from the toy store). She has been carrying the shell around in her basket all week. Her story about the shell has progressed with each passing day . . . deep in the ocean . . . something shiny caught their eye . . . the purple area is where the pearl was . . . it started with a speck of sand . . . it grew bigger and bigger and bigger . . . and it was THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PEARL EVER. I wish that always the grandparent's could see that the most beautiful gift they can share with her is time . . . time to hear her stories . . . time to share stories . . . time to share in nature. While the toy-store toys get tossed in a pile with all the others and later when the pile gets too big they are shipped out, it is the shell that captivates her mind & imagination and nurtures her sense of wonder.
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2 comments:
Oh so true. I am lucky to have parents who "get" this. And for the family who doesn't -- I found that rather than telling them what NOT to buy, I nicely but firmly tell them what to buy. I send out a book list and/ or keep a list for my son on thethingsiwant.com and they work from there.
Thank you for the website. I think that I am going to try thethingsiwant.com. I have done a lot of suggestions and it sadly does not work out. For her last birthday, I suggested art supplies which my daughter uses at least 2 times a day and that barely was recognized. Suggesting books used to worked out well, but now her interests are more specific and I am not sure if the grandparents take the extra time to plan out her gifts. Gifts at birthdays is nice and at some holidays, but gifts and surprises all the time, I believe it creates an empty happiness.
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