My eldest 2 boys are in Manila for a vacation. I have to make sure that the younger 3 are reasonably occupied. "Reasonably" means just that. I don't want to overwhelm them with back-to-back activites. They must have time left to do nothing, to get bored, todaydream, make-believe, and activate their imagination.
I remember when I was young, growing up with my cousins in Manila, there were only 4 TV channels, and absolutely no cable or VCR's. We spent out days out playing with sticks, stones, the small fish in the small canal, playing tag, making (and selling) pancakes, riding our bikes, and negotiating endless soccer games,and patintero. We also converted many a parent's bedroom we could into a haunted house, complete with thread-spider webs, pop-up zombies, and howling sound effects--and charged each other 25 cents to get in.
Today, we live near a community pool and my kids like to swim a lot. We have new pet parakeets that they tend to. The rest of the day is spent playing house, playing doctor, investigating the garden, or soaking in the tub, with their water toys.
Cost: $0.
But on days when I have to broaden their horizons, I take them to free library activities. Last week, there was an Audio Book Presentation, where the kids did activities while listening to a book.
Cost: $0.
After the Library, we browsed a thrift store. They got 1 cute toy each.
Cost: $2.
I found that I had time in the week-end, and after taking them to the grocery, we made some sugar cookies. They tasted good but I overcooked them. The time spent mixing and cookie-cutting, though, was bonding time worth more than ballet lessons.
My husband bought this frozen banana kit and made some treats with the girls, too.
And although clean-up was a challenge, these are precious times. . .
No comments:
Post a Comment