Forgetful Friday (A.K.A. making up for Thankful Thursdays I've missed)

Our Little Gymnast

I've been exceedingly lax in typing out what I'm thankful for these past few weeks.  I'd been on the ball in the middle of a super-busy season of life then just kind of shut down for two weeks afterwards.  So technically, I didn't forget about Thankful Thursdays, I was just too lazy to actually do them.  Gotta own up to that.  Forgetful Friday just sounded better.  ;)

This Thursday there are a mess of 'small' things that I'm thankful for.  Some may seem a bit insignificant, but they're all God's provision for me and my family. 

• Health -- Li'l Girlie and I have had a nasty cold this past week; very glad that she's over it and that I'm following suit.
• Along the Health lines, Zarbee's Children's Cough and Sleep Drink -- A natural cough remedy that helps kids over 2 years old.  It's all-natural and has honey, vitamin c, zinc and a bit of melatonin to help children sleep when they're sick.  You mix it into warm water and your child drinks it like tea.  Smells fantastic, and Li'l Girlie drank it down, saying it tasted good.  It helped her a ton; she went from miserable and congested right before bed to dropping off to sleep and sleeping through the night.  Just noticed that the website says it can help adults too.  I've gotta try it. 
• Gymnastics Class -- Li'l Girlie loves her preschool gymnastics class.  She's getting great exercise doing things she loves -- bouncing, hanging on to things, climbing, etc. and is learning to follow directions from someone other than her parents.  So valuable.  Little Miss Independent is seeing that participating in something is actually turning out to be fun.  
• Husbands That Make Dinner/Get Takeout When Their Wife is Sick -- This is self explanatory.  Thank you, Hubby!
• Coffee and Tea
• Sales at Old Navy

P.S.

What are you thankful for this week?  I'd love to hear.  You don't need to make a list like I did.  I was just making up for missing the past few Thursdays.  ;)  

Free Chick-fil-A and Learning on the Go

It definitely pays to join Chick-fil-A Insiders.  If  you or someone you love (read:  your kids) enjoy Chick-fil-A, you'll get emails notifying you of when they have exclusive free previews of new products.  Earlier in the year I got a free Spicy Chicken Sandwich, and this month was the Spicy Chicken Biscuit.

Free food was a great excuse for a morning excursion to our favorite fast food place.  Li'l Girlie is beyond enamored with Chick-fil-A...the nuggets, the cows, the play area, not to mention getting to drink milk out of a cute container with a straw.  All happy stuff in her book.

On this trip, we discovered the cow clock table-toppers, which immediately drew Li'l Girlie's interest.  We had fun moving the cow's arms and practicing counting with the numbers on the clock.  We practiced our moos and talked about what cows like to eat and what they do.  Between that and the play area, we ended up spending almost all morning at Chick-fil-A.

And why do I share this?

Well, the first paragraph is all about the free food, of course.  The rest of it is what Miriam Huffman Rockness, in her book A Time for Play - On Childhood and Creativity describes as fanning the flames of a child's interest.  As parents we can push our children to have interest in certain activities, and sometimes our child will glom onto them and have a ball, but what really sparks a child's creativity and desire to learn is parents latching onto something their son or daughter is already excited about and helping them explore that interest.

A boy who loves dinosaurs but doesn't care to read much will readily devour books his parents supply to him about T-Rex, Apatosaurus and Triceratops and learn huge vocabulary words to describe the objects of his obsession.  While that interest may not lead him into being a palientologist, it just might.  Or, at least along the way, it's teaching him both that his parents care about his passions and that there are fascinating worlds of knowledge to explore. 

Right now my daughter loves chicken nuggets and cows.  Who says we have to eat and run when there's an opportunity for learning through something she already thinks is fun.