OMG

This is Levi's OMG face.  What this photo does not show is the way his fingers dance and the way his whole body shakes when he is this excited.  What this photo does not show is why he is so elated.  

This next photo shows what gets Levi lit.  

  

Mason jar screw bands.  

Seriously.  

We have a kitchen drawer dedicated to Levi.  Plastic lids, bowls, sippy cups and assorted unbreakable kitchen things.  And of course those rings.  

Levi rummages around looking for those rings and once he locates one,  he slides it onto his arm.  Then he lets them slide off one by one.  

He spins the rings and watches them roll around until they fall over (or not).  The spinning is what Levi finds titillating (which is actually why Levi had that face--he was signing "spin!").  He puts the ring on his face and tries to fit his eyes, nose and mouth inside the inner circle (he can't).  Levi peeks through the rings and sees a different world.

I would be untruthful if I said he is content playing with those rings.  He is not.  He is genuinely heart-thumping thrilled.

I see Levi as an example, a reminder for me when I feel compelled to run out and buy new toys which is often.  I am one of those people in the less-is-more minimalist camp.  Or at least I try to be.  

Lately I find myself fighting the urge to take Levi out for a walk to the toy store (five amazing toy stores are within walking distance.  The torture!).   I just want to buy buy buy, get get get.  

But I know that the appeal of those stores are more for me than for Levi and that thrill is short-lived.  The new toys quickly become more stuff.  Nothing trumps the imagination.  The world is truly a fun place.

All it takes is an open mind to go OMG.

Black Boy

Visitors acknowledge the wooden blocks, the cool red car that zooms at the lightest touch, comment about the water blocks and ask what the light panel is for.  I wait for people to say something about the elephant in the room.

This said elephant?  

Almost Everything

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.

--William Shakespeare

In the morning the toys are in their place, tidy and organized, lovely to look at.  The toy cars sit next to the trucks.  The wooden pieces are fit together neatly and tucked away.  The straw basket holds all the pretend fruit, the pretend knife placed within reach.  I marvel at this thoughtfully curated set of toys and feel calm.  I anticipate the learning that follows play.

This is before Levi the player enters the stage.  The sound and fury comes and my rose-colored glasses are knocked right off. 

Non-Toys

            

    

We have two laundry baskets masquerading as toy bins.  Inside those bins are toys that run the gamut from soft to hard, safe to supervision needed when in use, made in the USA, made in China, natural, Fisher-Price plasticky. Toys, pshaw.