Walkabout Wednesday

Oh, the power of television and how it molds (think shapes, not fungal goop) little minds...  Samantha turned off the tv after breakfast yesterday and announced that she was running away and was going to go pack her stuff.  She then asked me to help her.

We had some extra time before school since her early private PT appointment had been canceled due to bad weather.  I followed her upstairs and told her to get a bag to put her things in, and asked her what she wanted to take with her.  "Max!" she announced, holding up a small, pink bear that she had named about a year ago.  "What else?" I pressed.  "Louise!"  She held up a pretty kimono-clad doll with long black braids.  "Don't forget Olivia," I said.  "Of course!" she responded, grabbing Olivia and stuffing her into Backpack.  "Look, Mommy!  I pack ah stuff!"  "Ah" has become the stand-in word she uses to fill pronouns, like "my," and other objects crucial to sentence structure, such as "to the."  "I pack MY stuff," I corrected her.  "I pack MY stuff!" she repeated. 

Gotta get those lessons in whenever possible!

The morning's adventure (to nowhere) was thanks to a sweet cartoon on Nick Jr. called Little Bill.  It was nothing bad, just an episode about a boy who wanted to run away from home because he didn't want to take a nap.  It ended with his family all packing their things and meeting him at the door as he was about to make his exit, telling him that they were going with him because they would miss him too much if he left.  So, of course, he changed his mind and took his nap.

I really love how Samantha absorbs what she sees and hears, really learning from everything around her.  Just to emulate what Little Bill had done was a big deal for her.  I am pretty sure she doesn't actually know what running away means (yet!!), but it was so endearing to watch her take such great pride in making the decision and packing her bag.

Not sure where she would have gone, but at least she had a Map.