Peaceful Play Times

I have been thankful for this on almost a daily basis the past weeks. The girls have been going off on their own creating all sorts of amazing games to play without any need for me. This may not sound like alot to many parents, but for us this is INCREDIBLE. I could go on and on about all the amazing qualities that Madison holds, but independent play time has never been one of them. Since birth she has had a need to be near me at all times and needed me to engage any play time. I am sure lots of this is my fault for being a hovering mommy who felt the need to be stimulating her constantly and some was just from her high-needs personality as a baby.

The past year or so we have seen glimpses of this but the past few weeks have been incredible. Madison can go off and keep herself (and often her little sister too!) entertained for hours at a time. Often, she will be curled up with a good book but she has been doing all sorts of other creative activities too.

The past 4 days she has started to make a "zoo collection" for Nora's room. She is drawing animals, cutting them out and then taping them above her bed. Nora is thrilled with the results and Madison is really impressing us with her abilities.

The other day she set up a rock work station. She spent time chipping, smoothing, investigating and cleaning the rocks. It was pretty entertaining to watch and she worked for over an hour on this project.

So I am very thankful for the moments of peace and quiet they are giving me and I am very proud of what a wonderful 6 year old daughter I have!