child's play l march 2013

each month i'll be documenting a "time of play" with my children. you can read more about this monthly project here.  what child doesn't LOVE play dough?  i know all three of mine do.  i think it is honestly great for each of them because it truly allows their creative minds to go to work.  one morning this week we went outside and all made some sweet treats. it was the perfect activity for a cloudy overcast day, hence the lack of any sunshine in my pictures. (but this project isn't about getting the best pictures each month.  it's about documenting quality time together).

head on over to the blog of my dear friend Jude Wood--she is always up to something fun with her four children.

child's play l february 2013

in december i opened up about a conversation i had with my oldest daughter that i will never forget. if you didn't get a chance to read it, you can read it here.  during that time i realized i need to play with my children more.  it isn't that we don't have lots of quality time together because we have a lot of it and it wasn't that i felt like i wasn't being present, because i really make an effort to be present with my family. BUT  i realized something very valuable was missing. and that was time that they planned out.    i realized that even though i planned crafts, activities, outings, etc, they had their own ideas of what was fun and exciting.  i began to consciously make an effort to play more, to say no to their requests less, and make the time we share together even more meaningful to them. it turns out i was not alone in my thinking and realizations. jude wood, a friend i made on this photography journey, began a project this year entitled child's play. you can read more on her thoughts behind the project here.   last month she invited me to join her.   there are not any rules for our project per say, it's just an effort as mothers to make sure we have no regrets. time with our children is so precious and so fleeting and i never want to look back and wish i would have prioritized things differently.

this month i have documented a simple afternoon to the library.  this is something my children LOVE to do. they ask to go to the library a lot.  and many times, i have said no.  some days to be quite honest it just stressed me out to take all three children into the library.  although she is cute as a button, my three year old is not very quiet and she loves to grab everything she sees with no regard for the order of the books. but even with all this said, it is such a joyous thing for my children to go to the library and pick out their own books and to explore. and it is a children's library after all, so i am not quite sure why i was so worried.  now that i have let those worries go a bit, i have found i really enjoy taking them all to a place they love so much.  the fun didn't stop there. they each came home and enjoyed all of their books and when daddy came home from work they had the best time re-living the story of star wars.

now please go visit Jude Wood and see how her child's play looks this month.