I gazed out into our yard and focused on the world I have created for my little daycare family. My gaze was directed towards what is pretty much a dream come true for the child version of myself.
I remember playing in the basement of my friend's home and creating a world of make believe with boxes. I remember creating a pretend "house" out of a place in a barn at the bottom of the hill with a childhood friend. I remember wishing for child-sized furniture for this land of make believe.
I thought of all I have accumulated for my imaginative young daycare family. The little kitchen, indoor picnic table, doll-tending centre, dolls and all the accessories I could have ever wished for. We have Fisher Price toys bursting out the seams. Castles, princes and princesses, houses, farms, circuses, a zoo, fences, accessories and all the Little Animals and People one could ever hope for.
We have cars, plains, boats, helicopters, an airport, car mats and a plethora of car ramps. We have trikes, scooters, wagons and little "Fred Flintstone" cars (Little Tykes cars where the kids propel them with their feet just like on the Flintstones). Yes. Plural. There is more than one of almost every little thing we have. I have created my own childhood dream within our home. I would have given anything to live in this world when I was a young girl.
I grew up watching "Bewitched" and wishing I could watch episode after episode of my most favorite show. I also wished I could twitch my nose and make my wishes come true. That is almost exactly what has happened. Children can watch episode after episode of their favorite TV show and not have to wait another week for it to air on a television that receives only two channels, three at best. Saturday morning cartoons? Our kids have cartoons on demand at the flick of a few buttons.
Special outings to the beach and visiting the playground that had the "twirly slide" were rare treats in my day. Now we of six parks within walking distance of our home; two of which have paddling pools. Two others have spray parks. Every park is new and different and exciting. Heavens, we even have a "park" right in our own back yard!
I dreamed of being able to walk to school (we lived on the farm until I was halfway through Grade 4). Now I can see the school from our living room window. I remember having a basketball hoop in behind the garage and thinking we were in heaven. Now, there is a paved basketball court in the school ground at the end of our block.
Kids these days can entertain themselves by turning on the TV, watching a movie of their choice, play on electronic gadgets geared from ages "zero" to “100” and tune into the world wide web at a keystroke. And kids know how to do all of this!
But do you know the most amazing part of all of this? Do you know what captivates their interest every time? Lady bugs, ants, butterflies and caterpillars. Boxes, margarine containers, rocks and dandelions. Give a child "the world" and that is exactly what they expect. Open up the doors and let them explore the world and there is no end to what they can find to amuse themselves.
I have created the world I have always wanted and opened my doors to share it with my young little daycare family. And they would have been content with boxes and bugs. Go figure.
