The Ponte Vecchio (old bridge), dedicated in its past to butcher shops, it is charming beyond belief as it sits in bright colors over the Arno river. It reminded me fo Lego blocks, something else that makes me smile 🙂
Tag: toy
How often do we find ourselves having to go through our children’s toy boxes to throw things away simply because they have outgrown some, some have been just neglected and others are just no longer wanted. And do you recall when you were a child having a single toy that you treasure, valued and held on to for years on end?
It is believed that in ancient Egypt a scribe was assigned to each small child to record their every word till age 12. Childhood was considered the most important stage of formation of a human and a time worth taking note of when the little person was still connected to the world they came from and to its essences. I have been always moved by this idea and had wished that I could offer this service to my child. A full hard drive of (4TB memory) later, I realized that I have been doing this with photos. Lea can trace what she did with almost every day of her life since birth through a photographic archive that is key worded, organized by date, age, and location on the globe. I wish someone had given me this gift as a child as I strive to remember certain important moments of my childhood in vain…
photo taken: Lea, Elli and Anna playing with a dollhouse on the first day of the New Year.
I am not sure who was the first person to think it would be a great idea to create toys that mimic killing machines and to advertise them to little children. But they did and the toys are here and very popular. The other day a group of almost 20 boys were coming out of the building where I live carrying these toy machine guns, most probably from a themed birthday party (great idea from mom), and they honestly gave me the strangest feeling watching them. They walked with the attitude that goes with the machine and there was an essence of war emanating from them so strongly. Children are like sponges, they absorb all that we offer them and they process these essences and influences and it all goes into the make up of their identities for their whole life. It is up to us parents in the end…
As a mother of an only daughter, I am fascinated with the differences between boys and girls and their varying natures. From a very early age, boys seem to be more ‘on the go’. It is as though they are always late for some appointment, they want to get there faster. I am almost certain it was a man who first invented the wheel and the practical woman who showed him how it works! But yes, boys love cars, planes, motorcycles, boats, speed…
photo: Little Leo with his truck in Marienbaum, Germany
For any parent, the most unforgettable and uncomfortable times are those spent with a sick child. You do everything in your power to comfort them, you pray to take away their pain into yourself, you worry, you call on all your reserve strength to be there for them completely and with all your senses and with all the love that you can muster. This was such a night, a night of suspected mild concussion spent at the hospital awake, monitoring, hoping and wishing for all to be ok. And thankfully it was. Little bear was there for comfort and occasional hugs.
We, foreigners living in Shanghai are often found to be very annoying to the local people of authority. We are sometimes referred to as the ‘why people’. With the summer here now in full power, the pool is open in our compound, and with that come the strange rules. One rule is that you must wear, outdoors, a swimming cap at all times if you were to enter the pool (a rule that is adhered to for almost one week tops). Naturally, every year we ask ‘why’? The answer is “there is no why, it is a rule, why do you ask why? What is wrong with you?”
Can you imagine living your daily life and never ever asking why certain things are they way they are when they don’t make any sense to you? I am a ‘why’ person and proud to be one!
photo: Lea with her friend on top of her new inflatable dolphin wearing the cap, don’t ask me why 🙂
Even the towers of the mightiest of kings can one day tumble and fall. It all has to do with what the tower was built on, what values, what principles, what the columns of its support are made of. It is a very simple law if you think about it, the stronger the foundation, the greater the longevity of something. The harder we work on the building of our own foundations, the more the resulting structure will hold. Isn’t it the reason a doctor has to prepare strenuously and for years and years to be able to take responsibility of someone’s life and well being? And isn’t it the reason any mastership in any field, requires training and long hours and years of preparation? And isn’t it why even governments and nations built upon principles and values that are no longer compatible with the future are crumbling and falling all around us?
A Saturday ponder.
Photo: Lea playing with her wooden tower at home.
Categories
Day Sixty Two, March 25, 2011
Shanghai is glitzy, shiny city that loves its sparkle, and ever since Barbie showed up with its huge flagship store on Huai Hai Lu, the Barbies are everywhere!
It is a Barbie revolution and they are winning. Hello Kitty has no choice but to step aside and give in to the Barbie street revolts.
I was at toys r us today and sure enough the Barbies were there taking up the main parts of the toy empire, armed with their flashy pink and their attack dogs.
I am amazed at the Barbie culture because Lea has never played with them, has had nothing to do with them whatsoever and would prefer a Luke Skywalker toy any day 🙂
Ok, so a silly post for today…