“It’s a Dalek!”

Today I took the littles to a program about “Bats and Bees: Friends not Foes.”  It was a fun program with learning, crafts, short movies, and playing in a bouncy house.

Because bouncy house is the universal word for fun in any language.

The littles were enchanted, and that made me happy.  Be kind to my children, and you’ve got my heart.

One of the crafts for the older children (of which my children were two) was making a butterfly finger puppet from a little kit.  We were trying to do the best we could with a glue stick and tape, and all of them turned out really cute in different ways.  I loved seeing how the children expressed their creativity as they followed the directions of the teenage girls who were helping with the program.

And then there was Cooter.  After coming up with a rather interesting and asymmetrical (law help my OCD) design on his wings, he gave up trying to attach them to the body of the butterfly puppet.  Instead of using one of the big pompoms for a head, he stuck a little one on the top and said, “That’s its neck.  You can’t see its head.”  And then I saw the wheels turning in his head.

With his tongue out of one side of his mouth, he went to work.  He used tape and stuck more of the little pompoms around the base of the butterfly.  Which, apparently, was no longer a butterfly.

“It’s a Dalek!” he nearly shouted.  He was so excited he repeated it as he lifted it up for me to see.  “A DALEK!”

Y’all.

Bless him.

Or me.  I might need it more.

I stood there in that moment, conflicted.  Do I praise his creativity or chastise him (or at the least be concerned) that he couldn’t follow the instructions and build what he was told to?

I got no idea what I should have done.

I can only tell you I went with the praise.

That’s kind of my thing.  When you can find something to praise, DO THAT.  It really kind of makes life better.

He beamed.  He wanted me to take a picture of his Dalek to show Aub.  Because Daleks and the story of Doctor Who of which they are from are things he shares with her.  I think he’s seen all of about two episodes, but they talk about it together and he loves looking at her “Where’s the Doctor?” and “When’s the Doctor?” Search and Find books.

Together.  The best way to be.

I also loved the butterfly our Princess made, following the directions and making it with her own twist.  I am proud of both of them.

Creative, each of them, in their own way.  I’m reminded of my Mama and her love of Ecclesiastes 3.  “To everything there is a season…..” and I recognize that there is a time for following directions and a time for being creative.  Today was a day for both, as it turned out.

Tonight I’m thankful for a good day with my littles–learning and laughing and creating.  I want to give them happy memories and today, I think we made a few.

Let’s go make it a day of finding something to praise in another and then doing that.  And wait until you see the smile that it brings–pure joy!

Love to all.