Yarn games

My intentions were good. 

Buy her a special ball of yarn, wait for a quiet cozy moment on the couch and finger knit the afternoon away. I've tried it every year with no success and thought this year will be perfect - she's almost 5 and has wanted to learn how to knit for a long time now.

From the get go it was a struggle, her independence of wanting to do it herself followed by frustration of not being able to do it filling the air. I sighed a big and heavy sigh and with as much patience as I could muster I asked what she wants to do instead.

PLAY she said, and asked if she could have the ball of yarn to play with. So I gave in (gave up) and let it go. I quietly knitted and started watching her.

First the ball of yarn became a nest keeping her dollies safe, then it transformed from a nest into laserbeams stringing along every room of our house. She climbed over, slithered under and contorted her body in ways that made me giggle. Soon her dollies used the yarn as a zip line, then she got caught in a spider web and finally scissors cut the yarn in a million (I'm not exagerating) pieces - making seaweed for her mermaids and moss for her dragons. The yarn inspired a whole 2 days of imaginative play - and boobie traps for us to tip toe through.

Another lesson learned in letting go and seeing what they come up with instead - it always amazes me how their minds work. 


Hope you are having a wonderful day!