Sometimes, as a mom, I feel like I'm drowning. Sometimes I feel like my baby turned into a "real kid" overnight, and... suddenly I'm supposed to come up with activities for him? When did he get so clever? When did his mind morph into something that needed fresh activities, and things to spark his imagination? I don't know when it happened, but there is no doubt, as I watch Seb hobbling around the room pretending that a slotted spoon and a whisk are two canes, that it has happened.
But sometimes, I feel like I've hit my stride, and it's usually completely random and the results are brilliantly simple. During Seb's nap today I got some dry beans, various bowls, a lidded container, and some scooping tools, (side note: now he's walking around shirtless, with a backpack, saying, "I'm a schoolbus.") and laid them out by our sliding door. It was the first thing he saw when he stumbled out of his room, delirious, and calmly excited that he could hear the lawn mowers outside ("Mow-ning-ning-ning"). He quickly got to work exploring, playing for a full 30 minutes by himself until he asked me to play, too.
We had a jolly good time putting beans in our belly buttons.