Who needs toys...
...when you've got rocks?
I just went outside to find all three girls sitting in the little gravel walkway around the outside edge of our house, streaked with popsicle juice and gravel dust. It's what they do pretty much every day after lunch.
I resisted getting a sandbox because I wasn't really sure I wanted to deal with the kids being covered in sand constantly. But I realize now that it doesn't matter, because they just get dirty by digging in the rocks instead.
I really don't know what is so enthralling about rocks, but my girls have always loved them. We're not talking sparkly agates or river-smooth pebbles here, people. This is just plain old backyard gravel. And yet...every time we go outside they gravitate to it. When we're out on a walk, they bring me handfuls of the stuff. "I got rocks for YOU, Mama!" they cry. I find rocks in my pocket, rocks in the dryer, rocks in the bottom of my purse.
Each of the older girls has a jar of "special" rocks that they have collected. Yesterday Beth came in from outside and counted all the gray, dusty treasures she had collected: 39. Thirty-nine little rocks that looked entirely unremarkable to me, but each one special to her.
Lucy once held up a rock and said, "It looks like a chocolate chip." And you know what? She was right. It was shaped almost exactly like a large-scale chocolate chip. A chocolate chip you could break a tooth on, but that's beside the point. I would never have even noticed that rock, much less picked it up and pondered its shape.
They love their rocks. So I smile and thank them cheerfully every time they bring me a new handful of gravel.
And then, because I am a grown-up and the magic has left my soul, I wait until they are gone and toss them back outside. More treasures for them to discover another day.
I just went outside to find all three girls sitting in the little gravel walkway around the outside edge of our house, streaked with popsicle juice and gravel dust. It's what they do pretty much every day after lunch.
Orange popsicle juice with dirt stuck to it...it's what all the cool kids are wearing this summer.
I resisted getting a sandbox because I wasn't really sure I wanted to deal with the kids being covered in sand constantly. But I realize now that it doesn't matter, because they just get dirty by digging in the rocks instead.
I really don't know what is so enthralling about rocks, but my girls have always loved them. We're not talking sparkly agates or river-smooth pebbles here, people. This is just plain old backyard gravel. And yet...every time we go outside they gravitate to it. When we're out on a walk, they bring me handfuls of the stuff. "I got rocks for YOU, Mama!" they cry. I find rocks in my pocket, rocks in the dryer, rocks in the bottom of my purse.
Beth's stash.
Each of the older girls has a jar of "special" rocks that they have collected. Yesterday Beth came in from outside and counted all the gray, dusty treasures she had collected: 39. Thirty-nine little rocks that looked entirely unremarkable to me, but each one special to her.
And Lucy's.
Lucy once held up a rock and said, "It looks like a chocolate chip." And you know what? She was right. It was shaped almost exactly like a large-scale chocolate chip. A chocolate chip you could break a tooth on, but that's beside the point. I would never have even noticed that rock, much less picked it up and pondered its shape.
They love their rocks. So I smile and thank them cheerfully every time they bring me a new handful of gravel.
And then, because I am a grown-up and the magic has left my soul, I wait until they are gone and toss them back outside. More treasures for them to discover another day.
7 comments:
I love the idea of a jar to hold all these little pieces of joy. Ours are randomly strewn about causing mommy madness. I will adopt this idea this very afternoon while we clean the little ones bedrooms. Also, Evie looks cutely mischievous in that picture. Miss you guys!
Yes Garrett loves rocks too. He finally has stopped eating them though! :) I like the idea of a jar too. I just find rocks all over my house! :) Sometimes in his bed!
My older brother, when he was little, had his Rock Suitcase. It was an awesome old wooden-handled suitcase filled with truly magical finds!
Bug does that, too! In fact, every week when we leave church, we have to tell her to put all her rocks back or she would bring home several every week. Maybe we should let her collect them until she gets a jar full...
My parents made the mistake of buying me a rock tumbler when I was little (as I was also a rock fanatic). My dad and I set it up together and I put my most treasured rocks inside it and we flipped the on switch. Who knew a tiny little rock tumbler could make so much noise? It was deafening. The tumbler was relegated to the basement, under a desk, that we draped with comforters. It almost drowned out the noise upstairs.
Rebecca is more into rocks than Sarah, but our main problem is that during the school year, both of them collect pea gravel by the gallon in their shoes from spending time on the school playground. Then they come home, go into their bedroom, take off their shoes and spread a layer of pea gravel on their bedroom carpet. We now use a shop-vac in their room.
Cute. Rocks are a favorite around here too. We don't have any directly near our house but somehow they still find these little treasures everywhere we go.
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