(extra)ordinary memories...

let's see...what are some of my favorite childhood memories...the way my parents would pile us all into the tub every Saturday night for baths, then clip our finger/toenails, brush/blowdry our wispy blonde hair, and my mom would then dutifully tie it up in rags or roll it in sponge curlers for church the next morning. i fondly recall playing with these little Strawberry Shortcake dolls on the couch with my Grammie and learning how to knit from her. setting up a lemonade stand and having competition from a neighbor kid across the street (we made more money, btw). riding bikes 'around the lake' (a humble mudhole behind our townhouse that we dreamt was the 'Lake of Shining Waters' from Anne of Green Gables), drawing on an etch-a-sketch. my mom reading to us. my dad 'beating us up' (roughhousing or having tickle fights, that is!) when he got home from work. you know...the simple, the ordinary, the memorable.

I want my kids to have those kinds of memories, too. So the other day, I was mopping the floors like a good little homemaker (snicker) and Kathryn decided to dump over the bucket of already dirty water all over my newly-scrubbed kitchen floor. I was at a crossroads. I could either A) inwardly grumble and shake my fist at the situation and at my inquisitive baby girl and shoo her out of the kitchen and oh-so-efficiently scrub it again while she watched through her little gate or... B) let her crawl through it like a homemade slip and slide, giggling, cooing, and having a good ol' time and then join in on the fun. I chose B and if you know me well enough, that would not have been my natural choice. We had the best time. both laughing and crawling around and literally slipping on all fours in the murky, watery mess. It was great and we made a memory.

Scene: it's the next day. I'm shredding confidential bank documents in the paper shredder. it gets too full. i dump the shreddings into the small trash can. I get an idea, "Let's have a snowstorm!" I set her in the middle of the kitchen and gently dump the can of shreddings over her like soft-falling snowflakes. at first, she didn't know what to think! She didn't like it at first but then realized it wasn't painful and squealed with delight once again. She crawled around in the 'snow drifts' and we even made some 'snow angels'. I snapped a few shots. She had a blast. A memory imprinted in my mind and hopefully one day in hers, as well, via the pictures I snapped. Future wedding slideshow material? I think so. 

Lesson learned: take time out of the everyday grind of life and have some fun. even if it's with dirty mop water and shredded bank statements. It's worth it. Now, go forth...