Annika's Imagination
No one will deny that Annika is a talker. This girl loves to talk- about anything. The other day when her mom came home from work, Annika said,
"Mom, I told Melody a story."
A story. It was definitely some kind of story. When she started talking, I grabbed some paper and a pen. This "story" had to be documented. Here are excerpts from Annika's imaginative narration:
"When I was a little boy, there were ants on my toes, and I said, 'Get off ants,', but they didn't get off, and I said, 'Help,' but mommy didn't help me. When I was a little boy, I was in Africa, and I couldn't find my little Barbie toy, and I was sad. And I went to Arizona."
"I had a birthday cake. I was 10 years old. And it was so yummy. Mommy gave me a cake. My brothers were so nice. I got a new blanket. I dreamed about lots and lots of little pets."
"I saw my beautiful daddy, and he had a purple crown on his head and a beautiful dress."
"I was really, really impressed and I ate too much food, and mom and dad were at Africa. I missed my family, but I ate some yummy cake. I didn't like the chicken; it had peanuts in it."
"I tried to look for my pet, my doggy was lost. His name was Rito, but I couldn't find him anywhere."
I don't think I can add anything to that story. Annika was extremely proud of herself for sharing all of that information with me. Maybe someday she will be a famous author. And she'll probably live in Africa or Arizona with her dog, Rito!
Monday, July 17, 2006
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
"A Block or so Later..."
Have you ever let a 3 year old read to you? It really is a fascinating experience. Yesterday afternoon Annika decided she was going to read to me from the Bible. Well, it was her little pictorial kid version of the Bible. She turned to the first story, which I have read to her several times. She knew that the characters were Adam and Eve, and that they did not listen to God. So, she proceeded to tell me that they were sad because they had been naughty.
"They had to be in time out." There was a picture of Adam and Eve hiding from God with big bushy leaves wrapped around them. "So, they were in the green time out because they did not listen to God." Color coded time out- what a concept!
She read on, turning the pages slowly. There was the story of the big boat, and then there was a story about Isaac, though she called him Jesus. Of course, in a Bible story book, all the men look like Jesus!
"And Jesus was naughty. He did not listen." Ahhh! Heresy! I had to interrupt.
"No, Annika. Jesus was never naughty. He always obeyed. He always listened to God."
" Oh." No further comment. She just continued to read, " A block or so later......"
She used the "block or so later" phrase about a dozen times while she was reading. That particular phrase is in another favorite book called Knuffle Bunny by children's author, Mo Willems. She has no idea what she's talking about, but she likes the sound of the phrase so she uses it whenever she can while reading.
To say the least, it was a highly interesting storytime.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Alarms and Escalators
Today was a day of high adventure for Nils. One of his favorite things to do is to go to the store. We go to the grocery store fairly often- it is equivalent to a day at Great America for this 5 year old.
Well, today I decided to try something a little different- going to the store and not putting him in a shopping cart. We went to Old Time Pottery. I was looking for an inexpensive set of sheets. One item, not a cartful of things. Nils could hold my hand and everything would go smoothly. We walked into the store, and he was just fascinated by everything he saw. He started making comments.
"Oh, water, " as we passed a decorative fountain.
" We're going to get some sheets."
"Oh, look." Fuzzy pillows were pretty cool to see and feel.
" There are flowers on it." We were examining a variety of sheets, and I was trying to match a fitted sheet to a flat sheet. Nils was standing next to me talking about the sheets. He then decided to walk down the aisle behind us.
"Nils, where are you going?" I stood and looked at him. He gave me that special smile that usually means he knows he's doing something that he shouldn't do. He took off. He was around the corner very quickly. I decided to go straight to the next aisle to cut him off. I didn't see him. As I rounded a corner, I heard an alarm. Then I saw him, backing away from an emergency exit door. Of course there had to be a door there. I mean, after all, if there wasn't a door for Nils to try to open, how could it be called a fun place to shop? I grabbed his hand, and tried to be stern, but I ended up laughing. It was a classic Nils stunt! I went back to the sheets, and waited for the fire department to show up. After a few minutes, some store employee made his way back there and looked at us. No questions, no fire department, no evil looks.
We made our way to the cash register. "I pushed the door, " Nils informed the clerk.
All the way to the car- "I pushed the door."
"I know , Nils. You have to stay by Melody in the store. No running away from me."
O.k. So we went home, right? No. I decided to try another new thing. Why not be really brave and go to the mall?
The mall was way cooler than Old Time Pottery. There were so many fascinating things to see. A machine full of Care Bears. Another machine with movies in it. I let him push buttons, but there was no way I was going to put money in those machines. We went to the Food Court and ate french fries and drank pop. Amazingly, he sat at the table and didn't try to run everywhere. We made a big production of throwing things away in the very big trash can. Then we had to try the escalator. The stairs were going up! It was so cool! We saw the Aqua Massage machines spraying water, we went down the glass elevator, we went to the jewelry store and talked to my friend Tracy. Nils tried to open the door to go behind the jewelry counter- no alarms went off. We went to a picture booth. I let him press buttons in there, and we watched the machine sketch our picture. We rode one last time up and down the escalator, and then left.
What a morning! All the way home Nils was talking.
"We went down the stairs."
"We ate french fries."
" I threw it in the garbage."
"No running. Hold Melody's hand."
"We took a picture."
He obviously had a great time, and so did I. It really is amazing to me to watch him react to things. Small, simple things are so huge to him. Nils always fascinates me- the way his mind works, the things he says, the things he remembers. It is days like these that make me truly thankful that he is a part of my life. It's funny, well, maybe not funny....it's just the way God works, I guess. The more I try to help Nils and teach him things, the more he teaches me. And the goodness and sovereignty of God becomes even more evident.
Today was a day of high adventure for Nils. One of his favorite things to do is to go to the store. We go to the grocery store fairly often- it is equivalent to a day at Great America for this 5 year old.
Well, today I decided to try something a little different- going to the store and not putting him in a shopping cart. We went to Old Time Pottery. I was looking for an inexpensive set of sheets. One item, not a cartful of things. Nils could hold my hand and everything would go smoothly. We walked into the store, and he was just fascinated by everything he saw. He started making comments.
"Oh, water, " as we passed a decorative fountain.
" We're going to get some sheets."
"Oh, look." Fuzzy pillows were pretty cool to see and feel.
" There are flowers on it." We were examining a variety of sheets, and I was trying to match a fitted sheet to a flat sheet. Nils was standing next to me talking about the sheets. He then decided to walk down the aisle behind us.
"Nils, where are you going?" I stood and looked at him. He gave me that special smile that usually means he knows he's doing something that he shouldn't do. He took off. He was around the corner very quickly. I decided to go straight to the next aisle to cut him off. I didn't see him. As I rounded a corner, I heard an alarm. Then I saw him, backing away from an emergency exit door. Of course there had to be a door there. I mean, after all, if there wasn't a door for Nils to try to open, how could it be called a fun place to shop? I grabbed his hand, and tried to be stern, but I ended up laughing. It was a classic Nils stunt! I went back to the sheets, and waited for the fire department to show up. After a few minutes, some store employee made his way back there and looked at us. No questions, no fire department, no evil looks.
We made our way to the cash register. "I pushed the door, " Nils informed the clerk.
All the way to the car- "I pushed the door."
"I know , Nils. You have to stay by Melody in the store. No running away from me."
O.k. So we went home, right? No. I decided to try another new thing. Why not be really brave and go to the mall?
The mall was way cooler than Old Time Pottery. There were so many fascinating things to see. A machine full of Care Bears. Another machine with movies in it. I let him push buttons, but there was no way I was going to put money in those machines. We went to the Food Court and ate french fries and drank pop. Amazingly, he sat at the table and didn't try to run everywhere. We made a big production of throwing things away in the very big trash can. Then we had to try the escalator. The stairs were going up! It was so cool! We saw the Aqua Massage machines spraying water, we went down the glass elevator, we went to the jewelry store and talked to my friend Tracy. Nils tried to open the door to go behind the jewelry counter- no alarms went off. We went to a picture booth. I let him press buttons in there, and we watched the machine sketch our picture. We rode one last time up and down the escalator, and then left.
What a morning! All the way home Nils was talking.
"We went down the stairs."
"We ate french fries."
" I threw it in the garbage."
"No running. Hold Melody's hand."
"We took a picture."
He obviously had a great time, and so did I. It really is amazing to me to watch him react to things. Small, simple things are so huge to him. Nils always fascinates me- the way his mind works, the things he says, the things he remembers. It is days like these that make me truly thankful that he is a part of my life. It's funny, well, maybe not funny....it's just the way God works, I guess. The more I try to help Nils and teach him things, the more he teaches me. And the goodness and sovereignty of God becomes even more evident.
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