Sunday, June 20, 2010

June 7/Day 1: Game Day

After this past school year, I've learned that Koen really thrives on routine. He was THRILLED with the idea of having each day of the week hold a different special activity. He already knows which activity belongs with each day. Smart kid! And whatever excites Koen tends to excite Tysen.

So the first day on the new (flexible) schedule was Game Day. I asked Koen which game he would like to play...he has a number of games, many that we haven't played in a quite a while. I listed a few options and he replied, "I would like to play Thomas trains." OK. Not quite the "game" I had in mind, but it's a new way of life, so to speak, and there's no reason to quibble about the definition of a game, so we played Thomas the Train Engine and Friends for the afternoon. He was so excited!

As much as I don't like how the trains in the Thomas stories are rude and revengeful toward each other, I admire Koen's passion for his trains. I'm continually impressed by his story retelling/reenacting as well as his creativity with his own stories or revisions of stories he knows. If you ever want to hear a good Thomas story, give Koen a call and he'd be happy to share one with you (but first be sure you have plenty of time...you never know how detailed/long the story might be).

He's also recently branched out and begun using Duplo blocks to build sheds and the Sodor Steamworks for the engines. I've also rediscovered my enjoyment for building. Building with blocks in and of itself is a great activity...learning how to balance, how to fit together, how to work with structures so they are strong and lasting.

Koen & Tysen have plenty of opportunities to learn the joy of sharing while playing with their treasured trains -- sharing trains, sharing blocks, sharing tracks, sharing Mom's attention.

So our first game day wasn't what I had pictured, but maybe this flexible schedule will teach me a thing or two, too. Knowing this was the "game" I was going to play with my boys that day, I took a deep breath and actually enjoyed playing Thomas the Tank Engine rather than simply enduring it.

P.S. Tysen was napping most of the time we were playing trains, but was able to join us for some of the time after waking up. Koen graciously shared with Ty when he joined the "game"...I loved that part!

No comments:

Post a Comment