I Took His Hand and Followed

I posted this poem a couple of years ago but it's a good one and I think it's something that's always good to keep in mind...

I Took His Hand and Followed

(Mrs. Roy L. Peifer)

My dishes went unwashed today,

I didn't make the bed,

I took his hand and followed

Where his eager footsteps led.

Oh yes, we went adventuring,

My little son and I...

Exploring all the great outdoors

Beneath the summer sky

We waded in a crystal stream,

We wandered through a wood...

My kitchen wasn't swept today

But life was gay and good.

We found a cool, sun-dappled glade

And now my small son knows

How Mother Bunny hides her nest,

Where jack-in-the-pulpit grows.

We watched a robin feed her young,

We climbed a sunlit hill...

Saw cloud-sheep scamper through the sky,

We plucked a daffodil.

That my house was neglected,

That I didn't brush the stairs,

In twenty years, no one on earth

Will know, or even care.

But that I've helped my little boy

To noble manhood grow,

In twenty years, the whole wide world

May look and see and know.

Activity Trays

Aren't these 'Tot Trays' such a cool idea?! It has inspired me to set up something similar for Shmoo and Loo. I've rearranged the bookshelves to free up a couple of shelves that are just out of Beanie's reach but still accessible to the older boys. Now to work on filling them with activity trays! We can't afford to buy pretty, colourful trays at the moment so I've had to do some scrounging around the house (the plastic trays that sweet potatoes come in turned out to be the perfect size!).

Food-dyed rice.

I've got some of their puzzles on the higher shelf and the activity trays on the shelf below but I'm thinking I'll have to swap them around as Beanie will be able to reach the lower shelf once he starts cruising (certainly don't need him putting buttons or the like in his mouth - I don't want another ambulance trip to hospital!). There's room for a few more trays so I'm coming up with a few more ideas like cutting, pasting, playdough, colour & word matching/sorting games etc. There are heaps of different variations so I can switch things around every now and then.