"We find a delight in the beauty and happiness of children that makes the heart too big for the body."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
At particular epochs of their life, children reveal an intense and extraordinary interest in certain objects and exercises, which one might look for in vain at a later age....Such attention is not the result of mere curiosity; it is more like a burning passion."
~Maria Montessori~
"The adult works to perfect his environment, whereas the child works to perfect himself, using the environment as the means....The child is a being in a constant state of transformation."
~E.M. Standing~
They are amazing little creatures, aren't they? How wonderful it would be to recapture such intense curiosity and interest in all things. I think we should erase the word exercise from our vocabulary and replace it with play.
ReplyDeleteThis is a perfect first comment. Thank you so much. I agree with you completely. What happen to the creative act of playing. Have parents lives become so busy that they can only give their child structured moments? Don't they remember the intensity of following a butterfly that's finding just the right flower, of swinging higher than ever before and standing on your head for no other reason than seeing what the world looks like that way? C.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful post - and what a lovely first comment!
ReplyDeleteI have an embroidered pillow that says:
A three year old child is a being who gets almost as much fun out of a fifty-six dollar set of swings as it does out of finding a small green worm.
~ B. Vaughan
Another soon-to-be embroidered favorite is:
You are worried about seeing him spend his early years in doing nothing? What! Is it nothing to be happy? Nothing to skip, play, and run around all day long? Never in his life will he be so busy again. ~Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Love your photos and the quotes. Children are wonderful to watch and I often wonder what goes thought their little minds. We need once in a while to become children again. Have a blessed day. Madelline
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
ReplyDeleteagree totally
ReplyDeleteFunny, but I think WE should also be in a constant state of transformation too!
ReplyDeleteYour header photo of blueberries rivals Maine. Makes my mouth water so in celebration I'll sit out on the porch and eat a bowl.
Thanks for your posting. It is wonderful!
Sharon Lovejoy Writes from Sunflower House and a Little Green Island