A Child's Mind

I love to watch and listen to my children as they play and use their imaginations.  More and more as technology intrudes into every facet of our lives, I become a bit concerned that my children may lose some of their ability to imagine and play creatively.  But, for the most part, it would seem that their child's mind with which God has gifted them is alive, well, and hard at work.  Some days, it is expressed in the "Animal Shelter" game where they gather all their pet stuffed animals and toys and rescue them from all kinds of perilous situations.  Other days, half of them are the masters and the other half pretend to be the pets themselves.  This afternoon, they had spread out two fleece blankets in the dining room area.  The big blue one was the ocean and the big yellow one was the sand.  There was a boat (empty diaper box) in the ocean, and a beach chair on the sand with snacks and books.  This, of course, was accompanied by the donning of swimsuits to fully play out the roles of beach-goers.  Probably the moment of greatest creativity this past month was initiated by #2 when she decided to make herself a pair of elf ears, which precipitated #1 and #3 following her lead and doing the same.  Then, it turned out to be a misty night outside and my hubby ushered them all outdoors for an impromtu photo shoot.  It couldn't have turned out better if we had been trying for it.  There are challenges and frustrations to having 5 young children space closely together, but there are also so many joys and wonders.  Watching the girls play together, imagine, create, and enjoy their childhood in this way is such a delight and blessing to me.  I'm going to enjoy this stage while it last and try not to wish it away, even in the many moments of exhaustion throughout the day.