It often amazes me how many times I hear some variation on, "Are they going to school?" or "Have you heard about the programs at Roxbury Park?" It seems like I'm constantly barraged from all sides with my girls' need to participate in structured play. On top of that, the few times that we do go to some sort of group or class I'm amazed at the involvement of the parents. Toddler art? Nope. Parents doing toddler art while their toddler sits and watches. The most glaring example of this would be last years' Yom ha'Atzmaut art project at Toddler Shabbat. The project was to make an Israeli flag and a birthday cake. The children were given a piece of blue paper, 2 strips of white and some star stickers. Many parents/caregivers created perfect flags while my girls' were more on the imaginative side. Yet they still hang with pride on my wall.
Today while blog surfing I ran across a wonderful post on Se7en about why children don't play anymore. While I don't agree fully with all of her statements (I have no problem buying educational toys as long as they are fun and my girls will play with them) I find that her sentiments match my own for the most.
When commenting on the post is occurred to me that I didn't have my days filled with classes, activities and playdates. In fact, there are only a handful that I can recall and if I did more what does that say about the experience?
All in all it reminds me of the thoughts shared by most adults after any sort of gift-giving to a child. Why bother with the gift? Just get them a box with wrapped in paper and bows and filled with bubble wrap.
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