On the paper only please...

Today is the first day all week that the sun is shining and the temperature is above freezing, and while I would love to take the kids outside to play, we can't....because last week I decided to spontaneously seed the backyard in hopes of growing grass.  Why would one not plan something like that out, because it's not the way things roll here.  While my husband was camping with my oldest son and his CubScout pack, I decided to rake out all of the pretty dirt in the backyard, lay out grass seed, and water it relentlessly.  And, just because that wasn't enough, I then ripped up the grass that had taken over the flower beds in the front of the house, and planted little green plants.  It was quite sad really, ripping up grass in the front, when I was trying so desperately to grow it in the back...but it's springtime, and if I follow the example my neighbors are trying to set for me, that means its now time to rake, dig, and plant things.  

Since yesterday we took a walk, that suggestion didn't get much enthusiasm from the small faces staring at me. After several suggestions of activities, and hearing several "no thank you"' responses I finally hit gold.  We decided to color, which got the same reaction as winning the lottery.  We colored in coloring books, on printed coloring pages found online, and on any piece of scrap paper we could find...not surprisingly, we also colored on the table a bit.  Why is that always so appealing to kids? I know it's something that all kids do, and not because they can't hear us saying "color on the paper, not on the table", clearly there is something about the thrill of coloring on a table all the adults in the world are missing out on. I think this is similar to the thrill kids get when dumping out an entire toy box, only to play with the toy that was on top...or the thrill kids get when they eat food with their fingers, instead of the fork and/or spoon we have spent hours teaching them how to use.  There is something that we as adults, are missing out on...I'm just not sure I want to figure out what it is.