Landon was recently gifted two items that I swore I would never allow in my house- a sand box and window markers. I knew Landon would love playing with a sand box, but just the thought of it gave me nightmares of sand being spread throughout the house and burying itself into the carpet. I didn't want to have to vacuum four times a day since I already have to vacuum twice a day for allergy prevention. Adding more to my work load wasn't my idea of fun so a sand box was definitely something that Landon would have to experience at a park. When I learned that Landon was given a sand box I put on a smile and went with the flow. I have to admit, it was a pretty cool looking sand box. I bit the bullet and took one for the team. The very next day we were out buying 50 pounds of sand that would eventually make its way inside my house little by little (causing a few more gray hairs to be pulled out!). The look on Landon's face once it was set up was completely worth all of the work that went into setting it up. I remember that very smile every time he's done playing in the sand and I have to strip him down on the back porch and carry him into the bath tub so that sand isn't tracked all over the place. The sand box provides him with hours of fun. He will seriously stay outside all afternoon if I allowed him to. There are times when I know it's becoming too hot and that he should come inside to cool down. He throws a fit and wants to keep playing in the sand. He has a blast with that sand box and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite things about our back yard.
I was set against window markers for the simple fact that I didn't want to encourage drawing on anything other than paper. I knew Landon would get the idea that it was ok to write on the walls...something that he has proven to be very good at! So far I have been proven wrong and Landon hasn't used these markers for anything other than the window...fingers crossed that it stays this way! We have tons of fun with these markers. I think Landon's favorite part is spraying the glass cleaner once we are done with our drawings. What can I say? He likes to clean like his Mommy!
These are rather impressive pictures for a three year old, but not so much for a near 30 year old! I tried. I'm definitely not artistic, but Landon doesn't seem to mind in the slightest. He tells me what to draw and somehow he can see his visions come to life in my pathetic attempt at drawing. He becomes so excited once he sees his visions come to life on the window! He even managed to recognize the little flying thing on the top left as Jenn's bird Happy. He told me to draw "Mommy holding Tinkie holding Landon" and I did just that. Then we had to add in the family along with Daddy's hat and "gobbles" (sun glasses). Landon then requested for us to get rained on and then wanted a big smiling sun with a rainbow.
These two new items taught me a little life lesson- it's ok at times to step outside of my comfort zone. I may even like the end result.
