memory jog

Posted on | February 25, 2010 | 8 Comments

I was just reading a new-to-me blog, Rurality (anyone who blogs Cat Parables is immediately added to my bloglines!), and her post today about a boat in the woods stirred a memory that I thought I’d share.

When my son was little, maybe three, we arrived coming home from a long day at work and daycare, and he said he wanted to build a boat in the front yard.  Tired and frustrated and wanting to go inside and start dinner, I told him we couldn’t build a boat, we didn’t have nearly enough wood, not to mention I didn’t know HOW to build a boat, it was going to be dark soon, etc.  Ever the voice of reason, practicality and – unintentionally – discouragement.

My then-teenage daughter stepped in and said “I’ll build a boat with you!”  She and my son gathered sticks, sat on the grass and made the outline of a boat around them.  He was delighted, and I was reminded how wonderful imagination can be.

Boats are pretty wonderful too.

Category: Things that inspire me

Comments

8 Responses to “memory jog”

  1. pdxknitterati/MicheleLB
    February 25th, 2010 @ 11:58 am

    sweet.

  2. Robyn
    February 25th, 2010 @ 12:36 pm

    What a great story!

  3. Bubblesknits
    February 25th, 2010 @ 12:57 pm

    I find myself doing that with my kids. We forget that most of the time, all it takes is something incredibly simple. We’re the ones who complicate it. lol Silly parents.

  4. Diane
    February 25th, 2010 @ 1:58 pm

    Lovely story. And Rurality is great isn’t it? I’ve been a fan for a while.

  5. Sgt. Britty
    February 25th, 2010 @ 4:11 pm

    That picture may be the first step in me moving past “the incident” of last summer.

  6. Rurality
    February 25th, 2010 @ 9:51 pm

    Hee. Maybe that’s how mine got there too. :)

  7. jen
    February 26th, 2010 @ 7:17 am

    Great story. I wish I would’ve gotten one of those parenting books when Syd was little that everyone talks about. I’m sure I would’ve been (and still would be) less discouraging from time to time.

  8. Carrie
    February 26th, 2010 @ 9:12 am

    Yup. It’s so easy to blow them off for what we have to do. Some days I do better than others. Good for A.