Lessons from Liam, the barefoot baker

 Nana Linda loves Liam unconditionally!

His Nana Tracey does, too. She and Liam made cupcakes. He helped place one paper in each space. That's pre-math, but he doesn't know it.

The barefoot chef got to crack the eggs, pour in ingredients and use the mixer as she held it. He learned you have to listen and follow instructions.  Good lesson to learn early in life.

 Just like with writing and submitting, writers have to follow the guidelines.

Liam and I hang out on Mondays. We stopped at the Dollar Store. He saw the bin of footballs and had to have ALL of them. That is a developmental stage in early childhood. Children cannot share SOME until they have experienced ALL. They have no concept of sharing, and think when they give it away it's gone for good. He kept dropping them. He said, "Nana Linda, I have too many footballs."

Sometimes too much of a good thing CAN be overwhelming at any age. Do you agree?

He put the balls back when he saw his heart's desire in the party aisle. "BALLOONS!"

He had to make a decision. He talked himself through it. "I want the ones that are green, and purple, and black. No, I want the white ones. Hmmm, maybe this big bag with big AND little balloons." 

Choices are good, but it's hard to make a decision sometimes, isn't it?

He had me fill water balloons one after another. We took them outside, and he took them to the driveway. Then he chickened out. When I showed him how to spank the balloons to get air bubbles inside he got brave, came over, spanked them and realized they would roll on the driveway instead of pop. They bounced all around and he giggled like crazy. When he tossed one on the grass, it popped. So he tested the hypothesis: will they always pop in the grass?

 They did! He was amazed at his discovery. Some he popped deliberately, and some he tried and tried to pop on the pavement, but they did not pop. In fact he got a little frustrated. See picture below.

Trial and error is the way we learn. It's good to make your own discoveries. We learn best by doing.

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, or how sure you are that something is going to turn out a certain way, it doesn't happen as you predict or think it will.

When you are so exhausted from too much work/play and frustrated that the way you planned things isn't working your way

it's best to grab your sleeping buddy, your favorite blankie, and curl up for a nap.

We are so blessed with this little guy who is beginning to declare his independence. It's like fourth of July at home. His new stage: NO! to everything.