Shooting Trains

You know that dead hour just before dinner is ready and you can all sit down to eat?  The worst hour of the day because you can't go anywhere or do anything but just hang around waiting for everything to cook, bake, boil, rise, finish!  If you do try and sneak out on an errand (leaving someone else to watch things), you find that time speeds up - even a little trip outside can result in burning, scorching, sticking.  But if you stay on guard in the kitchen, then time slows down and you sit there watching the clock that doesn't seem to move, waiting for timers to go off!

Little Claire came up with a perfect activity for this 'hour'.  We sit on the floor in the kitchen, she against the door to the basement, and me up against the little Wiggles table, and shoot her Thomas train engine back and forth to each other across the smooth laminate floor.   Peals of laughter and much shouting - the time flies by.

At first we were content to just shoot the engine but then Claire decided to spice things up by having me send the train off a little plastic train bridge - much more difficult than it sounds.  Getting it to her and in a straight line proved a challenge.  If it derailed or failed to go far enough, she would jump up and get it using Sam's paws (her favourite teddy bear) and bring it to me throwing it down with a clatter and blaming Sam for being so rough.  Then she wanted to include Annie and Clarabel (two box car trains) to the engine.   I tried my best but without much luck.    Claire was ever patient and would sigh and go back to just Thomas as the main event.

In recalling this, it reminded me of when I was young and would spend hours throwing a tennis ball against the school wall.  Like Claire, I would want to increase the challenge - one hand, clap in front, clap in back, spin around and try and catch it before it fell.  The inherent urge to see what I could do and still catch that ball.

What marvellous force resides in a child as she tries to see what she can accomplish - never willing to accept the status quo but always pushing to achieve more - go higher, faster, make it more difficult - delighting in mastering each new self-imposed level.  While this drive has mercifully lessened over the years, I still delight in learning something new, trying a different way to do things, increasing the difficulty, and loving when I get it done!  Never give up - never settle! 

She has a little train table now so no more shooting engines across the floor.  Now we make up stories about the trains as we move them around, me speaking in a terrible British accent as 'Lady' engine, and she, almost overcome with delight, answering me in her 'Thomas' voice.  We have our favourite engines, Thomas for her, and James for me - although she is not particularly impressed with the James engine, she accepts without question, that it is 'Meme's favourite' (he's vain but lots of fun), and it has been added to our 'useful crew'.   That's what love is all about.