Children learn best when they traverse the world; bringing their best doesn't only mean facing the four walls at home or school but also acquiring chances to advent outdoors; it doesn't matter what form of activities they do. Big or small, in time, they get to obtain lessons far from what we expected; as a mother, I have given my child the freedom to choose what she likes to do in and outside our house; sincerely, you'll be surprised how they react to each thing they do. I am going to share her experiences as we went somewhere.
🏷️💰To the first store...
Waiting for a bus or tricycle around 10 am wasn't easy as I thought; take a while to find one; at this stage, my daughter got bored, and I was thinking of an idea of how to divert her attention; we would count one to one hundred until the vehicle arrived; she was on it because she likes numbers, counting, and even adding them; took us more than a hundred when the tuk-tuk came and asked us where we'll be heading; I said we to Bogo; 30 minutes later, we arrived at Gaisano; let her go in first and observed what would do when recognized the guard at the entrance; she told me, Mom, there's a guard; told her to keep going because the guard would only check our things for our safety.
Going to the 2nd floor...
On this level, she asked me again what we were doing there; I told her to see the prices of the school supplies if it was cheaper than the other stores; she will be going to school this year and is already excited. Until..
Toys! I want toys, gave her to check them all; as she got close, tell me sadly, many of her toys were the same in our house. I could see her disappointment and plan to take her to another store later; her face became bright and full of hope when she heard those words.
Then we went to the school supplies section and tried to see the colored pencils and drawing books, but tell me we won't buy them.
Before eating lunch, we went to the ground floor to buy groceries, including her snacks and were delighted to choose and get those stuff. The evidence showed on her face. Children like to get involved all the time. At last, we can eat lunch and go to the Next store after.
💸To Another Store...
Oh, look! She ran as fast as she could to reach this Vending Machine. To work, you need to pay 10 new Peso coins. She's so happy picking a stuffed toy, not knowing we spent Php 100; seeing her determined to get one is a sign of wanting to reach her goal; sad to say has not owned one. There's no dismay reaction on her face after having nothing.
Nothing stops her from being blissful at that time. She tried all the toy cars; you need to put two old 5 peso coins on the two kinds of cars, and two new 5 peso coins for the rest of the two.
You can play basketball while enjoying the rocking car, the rocking panda. Kids can multitask. Even though they were watching educational videos, still, they could hear talking and respond to our questions. How did they do that? 😁
With so much curiosity, she rode all those 4 rocking cars. 🤣 I can see she can differentiate which was better for her. When we were done playing, we went inside the store and bought her a toy. Then, our last stop was the playground.
Every time we passed by this place, she would request (Dad and Mom) to play again. However, we refused because usually, we were in a hurry. This time, I let her go there. She's overjoyed. Finally, after a few minutes, she told me to go home because she wanted to play with her new toy.
🚌Gotta Go Home
We went home by bus; many questions never end when I'm with her; sometimes, I find it hard to answer even the simplest ones, and I believe there's still complexity amidst simplicity.
Look how lovely her smile is; contagious and bought her a kitchen set toy; why did I buy it for her? Last time, I promised next time she could have it; she did not cry or become hysterical upon my refusal, which gave me the courage to give it to her some other time. Now, a different feeling; I know some mothers out there felt the same as me; there were lots of discoveries and lessons, not only for my child as well as me; learnings happen everywhere; let them enjoy and seize the moment.