Toddler Treasures – Story Time

See that picture up there? That is CUTENESS!

As my kids get older and more independent, they don’t want me or need me so much. Gone are the days when they show me every drawing masterpiece and every Lego house they make.

So, whenever my kids do not feel well I try to take advantage of the fact that they need me around. They even want me around. 🙂

My little girl had a tummy ache after breakfast. She came and found me in my bedroom, and in her best 3 year old whiny voice said, “My tummy hurts, Mom.”

Not wanting to miss an opportunity to snuggle with her, we climbed up on my bed to rest for a little bit.

She kept whining, which made the snuggling not so fun.

To distract her, I asked her to tell me a story. I had put down my book so I could hold her, and figured she could tell me a story instead.

She was hesitant at first, but after a little prompting from me (“Once upon a time, there was a…”) she unraveled a tale with a princess, and baby monsters (who were really nice), and doggie monsters (who were really mean), and a king that came to the rescue while wearing pink curls on his head with matching sparkly, shiny pink clothes.

Yep. She loves pink.

I had so much fun listening to her story that I invited her older brother to come join us. And then her other brother too. All three took turns telling stories. We had people being taken away in garbage cans and rolling all the way to China. Family members were accidentally turning their rocket boots on and off and it was getting them into all sorts of trouble. Ninjas were swinging all over the jungle and taking out bad guys left and right (but not killing them).  We even had a retelling of the Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, featuring pigs and a trampoline.

Feeling inspired by their imaginations, I made up a story of my own. I tried hard to make it believable. I was flattered when part way through my oldest interrupted and asked, “Mom, did this really happen, or is it just a story?”

The four of us had such a great time hanging out on my bed for about 20 minutes. After that the kids dispersed to go and live out their stories.

I’m not sure when it happened, but somewhere along the way the tummy ache disappeared. And my imagination magically reappeared.

My kids were happy to help me find it.

I’ve missed my old friend.