Well today I surprised them when I told them, "Let's go explore that shanty!"
We walked over to it with Alex and Dennis in the double stroller-- and I watched my kids have a field day exploring, pretending, and imagining what life must have been like for the people who used to call this place home.
Anna found this doll and both her and Rachel were instantly in love. They thought it was beautiful and figured that it must have belonged to some little girl.
After exploring this old home site, I expected my kids to tell me how much they appreciated our home. Instead they all wished they could live there and fix up the place. Rachel said that this place reminded her of Ukraine.
If given the go ahead, my kids would have stayed there for hours. They found all kinds of little treasures. They begged to bring home old make-up compacts, shampoo bottles, and burnt up notebooks. I of course feared needles, rusty nails, and broken glass.
Rachel announced that she was going to buy a place like this when she grows up so that she can fix it up. You should have heard her plans.
All of my kids saw so much potential in this shanty---- and shared with me how they would fix it up. After it was all done they would call me over to come and sit with them and eat. But I would have to bring the food.
Wouldn't that be nice?
21 inspiring thoughts:
Kids just love exploring don't they! It sounds like you have some children who are very creative.
laughing out loud. kids are hilarious.
Imagination is a good thing! :)
I love how your children see the potential in everything. I wonder if there's a parallel there with their own lives? Something about starting where we are, clearing out the rubbish, and creating a new being, putting off the old and putting on the new?
Tia
What fun! I would have loved to do that as a kid. My mom used to take us on long walks around the city where we lived and we'd find "treasues" rocks, leaves, marbles, lost items, :)
This is a supreme example of how kids view the world differently & what they really appreciate. You thought they'd tell you how grateful they were for your house, they told you they wanted to live in the shanty. Far too often, we think we know what our kids want and appreciate and then they surprise you with something totally different. I know that my kids would rather I sat with them and watched TV or played on the floor with them rather than make the dinner at night!!!! I think it's very cool that several of your kids had ambitions for the house and wanted to restore it to its former glory. They are also growing up and having plans for their own future-probably not what you want to hear, but at least they still want to live close to you!!! I let my kids do a lot, but I'm not sure I'd have gone as far as letting them explore the shanty, I'd have been thinking of too many dangers. I bet they had great fun though. You're braver than me
I love that they all saw the potential in that shack, rather like how you and John saw the potential in them and how God sees the potential in us and the grand plans he has for our lives. :-)
I wish I was there to explore the shanty. It looks like a lot of fun. :) When we were young we used to explore the trash piles dumped in the woods near the house. I'm not sure what it was but things like old toys and burnt up notebooks were better than gold to us as kids. Our imaginations would soar. Those were good times.
When I was little we lived in Colorado and my absolute FAVORITE thing to do was go to a ghost town called Caribou. My parents would drive up there on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. There were old, abandoned cabins there - and like your kids, they SO intrigued me. I LONGED to live in one of them (if I could have been transported back to 1870 that would have been perfect for me). I still have a few bits and pieces of old letters, rusty nails, etc. that I found there - such treasures. There was a sense of peace there. The promise of a simpler life. The same longing I get in Russia. Not so much STUFF. Not so many [too many] OPPORTUNITIES.
Sometimes our life in the US today is like a non-stop banquet of rich foods. It gets to be too much. You long for nothing but bread and butter or a bowl of kasha.
My kids love exploring too! I love how children can imagine a palace in a shack. I say so often that I don't know why I spend so much money on toys for my kids because they enjoy playing with what I would consider junk! Kids have a knack for finding potential in everything they see. I think that it is great that you encourage your children's imagination and allow them to do things that most adults would see as silly and a waste of time. Thanks for sharing!
I love exploring! It sounds like fun to me!
Seeing and hearing the kids plans sure was a blessing.
Have your kids ever read The Boxcar Children..... I started reading those to my kids a few years ago... they would enjoy those if they haven't read them :)
My kids would have loved exploring the shanty also. Fun!
My first thought was the Boxcar Children and how I loved that book. In fact, Gertrude Warner (the author) lived in the town that I grew up in (Putnam,CT) and there is now an actual boxcar museum about her life in town by the railroad station. I just found out a few weeks ago about the museum and had planned to go to the pumpkin festival in Putnam yesterday and the Gertrude Warner Museum but it rained all day. Gertrude Warner was my father's teacher in elementary school. I just loved that book and bought the series for my granddaughters.
Exploring the shack must have been fun but I also would have worried about needles and glass. Since I don't go anywhere without my antibacterial cream, I probably would have had nervous twitches seeing it all. Weird how as a child, I would have relished digging in all of it though.
When I was a kid we lived for a few years in a trailer park that was part of what had been an old estate. The old "Big House" was still there in the front of the park, falling down and filled with trash. I LOVED exploring that old house and rifling through all the treasures there. Was really sad to hear that it was torn down a few years back.
This post brought back memories for me. I bet your kids did have a great time! :)
How fun! I love exploring things myself! I love antique barns and flea markets. I always had a great imagination as a kid. :oD
I love the fact that they could see beauty in this old shanty. Such amazing kids i can imagine you are so proud. As for bringing the food, that sounds like my girls. xxx
I have to agree with Tia about the parallel to their lives. I have had so many garage sales last year that moving the last of the "stuff" I exclaimed to God that all I do is deal in SALVAGE and he said Yes! That's it!
What a neat old place! I used to love exploring places like that myself . . . where we lived at one point there was a huge old house that had been abandoned. We were forbidden to go inside, but being curious and disobedient we did sneak in once and it was awesome! :D I love that you took your kids to see the Shanty.
I think it is awesome that you have helped to instill in your children that just because things aren't perfect doesn't mean there isn't wonderful potential. I loved how they wanted to turn the run down place into a home with family and you bringing food. Shows what an amazing job you are doing with your children!
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