Time here in Costa Rica, with two (almost four year olds) is exhausting for a 45 year old mother. Not to say that our boys watched much TV in Chicago, but we did have the luxury of sending them to the basement to watch an hour of cartoons so we could clean up the dishes, do some dinner prep or take an important call. So not the case here. There is so much they can get themselves into just with one step outside the front door. This is good (don’t misunderstand me) but requires me to be almost toe to toe with them every step of the way. We had a fenced in yard in Chicago which gave us some peace of mind (although they knew how to escape) -- no such thing here. We are strict about not going into the pasture without an adult although they do push it to the limit – there is a clear boundary of a gate and they do pretty well with staying on the “right” side until one of us is there to meet them. We are also laying down the law about asking permission to visit our neighbors house, explore past the compost pile to the right of the driveway or wander through a small path on the other side of our property. I have become attune to their little pitter patter feet on the concrete patio outside and know when they’ve veered off course, picked up speed and are about to make the great escape.
We brought only a few essentials with us when we were packing at the eleventh hour a month ago to make this move, lots of paperback books, some of their plastic, small animals, some cards, matching games, brain quest work books and some crayons, coloring books, soccer ball and inflatable beach balls. So where does that leave me now? Oh yes, Bobo the monkey and Aunt Sandy’s afghans she made for the boys when we brought them home also made it into the suitcase!
Tree Climbing – Our pasture is filled with ½ dozen Guava trees which are perfect for them to climb on – not to tall and if lucky a ripe guava in reach. The boys love to eat them and use teamwork and any stick or piece of bamboo in their grasp to snag a big one. Michael is quite agile and has no fear of the trees or falling for that matter. John (the more accident prone of the two) is more cautious (which is probably a good thing). Climbing is a daily ritual and can last for one to two hours. Often times, they’ll be climbing with Goudy as I return from my morning run. We also check in on the leaf cutter ants as there are several trails and hills under construction. Tree climbing…it’s a good thing!
Making Orange Juice – Yesterday, the boys (this time Loandry got in on the fun) climbed our neighbors orange tree and gathered upwards of 20 oranges to make orange juice. 'Sounds easy enough', I thought to myself…'I can handle this' -
'heck I'm practically a pro at making mango smoothies and popsicles now'. We had fun washing and drying the fruit before we started. I put the little craft table to use on the patio and even managed to find a glass juicer in the cabinet. We all got a work-out trying to squeeze any juice from these oranges as there was only one out of the entire lot that was semi-ripe. We eeked out enough juice, added some water, a dash of sugar and each boy had a sweet tasty drink to quench their thirst after the harvest and preparation work….Good job boys!
On Rainy Days – Luckily we have not had too many total wash-outs, but on the days when the afternoon rains come, we rummage through our make-shift toy-box (which consists of some old plastic stackables that we rescued from the washing area, cleaned them out and now use to hold our cards, magnifying glasses and animals). Mike brought home some dice and plastic blocks from his classroom so we did some experiments with those, throw in a marble and some pots and pans, and we kept busy for another hour.
So, really it comes down to taking advantage of what you have in your house/school and throwing in a little bit of imagination - we’ll be just fine.
We enjoyed my favorite snack from my childhood Sunday afternoon, POPCORN – made on the stove – the boys got a kick out of listening to the kernels explode and hearing about when I was a girl and pulling up a chair to the stove to help make the popcorn. Sunday night was capped off with 30 minutes of Planet Earth! We decided Sunday evening we could all snuggle up on the futon / couch in the living/dining/kitchen area and witness the wonders of sharks, elephants and impalas! Sunday night family time – just like always!
Signed: S
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