Inside the minds..

Kids have this fabulous sense of, well, I guess wonder is the word.

Today, someone dropped off a bag of hand-me-downs for my girls. Now, this bag was not the kind that included skid marked undies, tomato soup stained onsies and hole ridden flood pants. This was the Osh Kosh/Carters/Children'sPlace/Gap bag of hand me downs. So needless to say, some super cute stuff.

Although I DO live in the freezing cold north, apparently my country DID get the summer memo (albeit MUCH later than we were hoping), and it has been GLORIOUSLY in the mid 30's...oh...for you Yankees, that's like 200 F...oh, maybe not...um, hold on...google says that's 95ish. So, hot. And lovely. And hot. And I LOVE it. Moving on.

Much of the new duds in the clothing bag will be PERFECT for my girls...in the winter. Sweaters and ponchos, heavy pants and jackets. This is where the "wonder" sets in. Who the heck cares that it's 'fry an egg on the sidewalk' hot out...new clothes MUST be worn. So I am, in as little clothing as I can get away with, watching my children play in the backyard, by the pool, in a winter jacket and a wool poncho. I asked several times if they were hot, and both replied with a resounding NO, and I was even informed that it's actually quite cold and windy out. (As my popsicle melts the second the freezer door opens.)





Speaking of wonder...do you ever wonder HOW a child can watch the SAME movie or episode of a show a MILLION times and still laugh at the same places and still find it so entertaining, and still have their eyebrows raised in anticipation as they wonder what...oh WHAT will happen next? Like seriously? Lightning McQueen gets Sally the Porsche and they live happily ever after...you KNOW that don't you?! Did you miss that little fact the last billion times you watch it? Oh...NOT that my children watch shows a billion times** Ahem** For, naturally, as the receiver of multiple "Mommy-of-the-year" awards, I am fully aware to only let my child watch an hour a day...er...a week...oh, what? ...a month, I mean. Yes, of course, an hour a month. Don't want their brains to go to mush or their eyeballs to go crossed or their Mommy to get any laundry done...I digress.

What else amazes me is how my 2 year old BOY (I must add that in here because my girls NEVER did this) , could find hours of pleasure in following around random critters on our cement patio in the back. I mean on hands and knees, scraping the baby soft skin right off his precious little shins, with his eyes as big as saucers as he doesn't let them out of his sight. Well, until they crawl into the line of Juniper trees. Then he scowls, sits there wearing an utter look of defeat, and in his best Swiper the Fox voice, says, "Aww Maaaan!" I guess he had about had it the other day when a tiny little unsuspecting ant he was stalking was just about to disappear into the juniper jungle, and instead of letting him go his merry way, he immediately placed his pointer finger right on top of it. He lifted his finger to his face to peer at his prize, and as the little ants legs all squirmed in a futile protest, something came over my little man, and he popped that treasure right into his little mouth. Seeming completely proud of himself, he glanced over his shoulder, looked at me and gave me his best toothy grin. I was far enough away, that I could not tell if that grin included little black legs in between his teeth. Ew. I shudder even now. I am such a girlie girl. Like honestly, what in BLUE BLAZES would make anyone want to put something moving and creepy in their mouth. It is far beyond me.

Children, creatures of wonder. Sometimes it makes you grimace and gag, and other times, it's a great lesson to maybe, yourself, find a little wonder in the everyday world we've become so accustomed to. I don't recommend eating bugs though. Even on Fear Factor. ESPECIALLY on Fear Factor.