Matthew was gone all week to a conference in California and I was getting rather worn out. I decided we needed to do something extra fun so I took Linus to the Congress Park pool. (The city has made all Rec Center facilities free for kids this summer.) When we got there the life guards had just started their break and Linus was impatient to get into the water. Unlike last year, he was very comfortable playing in the water and played with some kids we met in the baby pool. The baby pool has one side with a one-foot depth and on the other side of the fence it is two feet deep. Linus had fun on both sides. He liked to go after the ball, had fun throwing it up in the air so it would splash and make a sound as it landed in the water, and especially enjoyed tossing the ball directly into one of the jets of water and then watching it float back toward him.
When Linus was only a few months old, one of Matthew's co-workers didn't understand why we didn't let Linus watch television. I quoted the recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatricians. She was incredulous and said her nephew would never have gotten to know about trains if he hadn't watched Thomas on tv. I said that Linus could see trains quite easily in Green Bay since the National Railroad Museum is there and trains go through the downtown every day. This is a long introduction to my sharing an example of how a child can become excited about something they've only seen in a book. On our walk yesterday we encountered a yard that had tall, overgrown grass and weeds. Linus joyfully jumped into it and pranced around saying, "Mama, its a meadow! Come walk in meadow!" So there!
4 comments:
I love it!! You must have beamed when he called it a meadow! I always quote the same AAP recommendation whenever people judge us for not letting Juniper watch tv. Like we should have to justify it!! A woman I know asked me today, "How will she learn the Itsy Bitsy Spider song if she doesn't watch tv?" DUH!!! I just replied, "I prefer to interact with her rather than plunk her in front of a tv. I will teach it to her." Geez. Some people.
Star, that cracks me up that the woman thinks the only way to learn a song is by watching it. Duh. Doesn't she know music is for listening, not watching? If she doesn't know the words to the song she could always consult a book. Or take her child to library story times where her child will be exposed to a number of classic kids' songs. Grrrr. Some people.
When Linus was reveling in the experience of walking in the meadow he gave me one more reason to love him. He was oozing joy out of every pore.
wow. how did she think people learned before television! johanna only recently started watching more then sesame street (frida you know) but I believe she was learns much more from reading and talking with us because we make her think and ask questions.
I love how everyday they keep surprising us with new stuff!
That picture of the pool explains why I've been drawn to the colors aqua and turquoise lately. They're the colors of the cool, cool pool!
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