"A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, 'Do it again'; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony"
~ G.K. Chesterton
~ G.K. Chesterton
One night I had to leave R to her own devices because M or E was having a crisis. Well when things were a little too quiet in the bathroom after her teeth had been brushed I discovered she took it upon herself to get her floss. She has now joined the ranks of the flossers. BUT clearly a 2 yr old does not need THIS much floss. Instead of freaking out and scolding her, I almost started laughing and told her to give me the floss and go read a story.
True excess. :) funny.
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DeleteI'll never forget when my younger brother discovered that floss makes excellent bow string for play bows and arrows. It was only a short jump from that to "this is just string in a handy container -- think of all the uses!" I think it was quite some time before our family ever had floss again...
ReplyDeleteI came across this quote, too, and think of all the many rereadings of books, retellings of stories (not to mention knock-knock jokes), re-doing of games, etc. that my kids delight in. And then I think of the monotonous things I don't delight in, like laundry. He's right!
Haha! That's an awesome bow and arrow story : )
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