Oh to be a kid again!

This morning we made pancakes for breakfast, and as I was putting on my butter, I had this flashback of 3 or 4-yr-old me playing with the plastic pancakes and butter with my big sister.  Our play-food box was one of my favorite things.  I loved putting the pink scoops of ice cream in the little bowls and setting things up like we were really going to eat them. I can't believe we didn't lose that little square of pretend plastic butter!  My kids would have it buried for sure in the absolute wrong place in no time, but I guess the way I played and the way they play is very very different.  I was careful, and precise about my toys. I never wanted anything to get messed up or broken.  This is why I am so surprised at the way they play- so rough and haphazardly! Things are constantly getting broken and put in the absolute wrong place, but that is who they are.  No matter how much we talk about treating our things nicely, it just isn't in them to be exactly like me... they have so much of their daddy in them too!
When I was reminiscing about the plastic butter this morning, I thought for a moment how nice it would be to go back to that simple life. I miss being four, don't you? The simplicity, being taken care of all of the time, no agenda, no to-do lists, just living in your own imagination with your best friends who are stuffed with fluff! Now, I get to be on the other side. The mom who watches the childhoods unfold.  I love watching them do the unexpected, those things that you just couldn't make up if you tried.  They come up with their own ideas of who they want to be and how they want to play.  Though I still have major influence, they are independent, creative, and %100 boys!

Owen just woke up from a nice long nap for a change! He is very sweaty and glossy eyed.   He came out of the room, looked at me without saying anything, looked around the room, left and came back holding "my" pink plastic ring. He smiled and put it on my pinky, still without saying anything, and then went into the bathroom.  It's one of those hard plastic rings left over from a birthday party treat bag.  Owen seems to think that I should wear it all the time.  It kind of melts my heart at how sweet he is.  It was so funny how he thought of that first before anything when he just got up, but like I said, it's those silly little unexpected moments that just make my day.

I wonder what our third boy will be like, William, who we are now counting down the days for his arrival. Soon I'll have a whole pack of boys! I'm sure he'll look up to his big brothers and like some of the things that they like... superheroes, dinosaurs, and things that go.  But it will be fun to see what their differences are as well.

This is just a random Superman pic of Owen playing with his Superman figurine.

Superheroes definitely reign supreme at our house.  Owen makes an amazing Incredible Hulk.  This morning there was a spider that I asked him to get. He transformed completely into character... curling his arms to show his muscles and saying, "Hulk Smash!" in a monster-hulk sort of way.  I just cracked up! Between that and him bringing me the pink ring, he is the perfect balance of a true superhero.  I know I'll always be taken care of with my boys around.  Even if I'm not four anymore and I make the pancakes out of real batter, life is pretty great.  I still get to live in my imagination here and there, and I absolutely love watching them discovery the joy of living in theirs!