Scrap Heap

One of the new "games" sabine is into around here is playing 'fabric.' i ask her if she wants to play with the fabric, and she runs to the shelf where her toys are kept and pulls out a big bag of fabric scraps that i store under there. then commences the folding and unfolding. she takes out every piece, carefully inspects it, unfolds it and then throws it on the floor. i then, pick it up and fold it back up, making a pile somewhere behind my back or on the sofa where she can't see it and unfold it again. this game goes on in silence and can last as much as 30 minutes or more. we both dig it, but in full blogger transparency, we probably play too much since my wrists are a little sore while typing this. (ok, MAYBE it has something to do with my yoga practice earlier)



i know it seems like a redundant ridiculous game or waste of time. but i don't think so. i think for both of us it's very meditative. we get into the zone. she gets really quiet and focused and we just enjoy the quiet time and space together. i get into the zone of the folding too and it's like we're working together on some big project ... big enough for a one year old at least. so i'm happy as can be folding and unfolding with her. of course, i'd like to have more time actually SEWING with all those cool fabrics. hopefully this game will lead to a future interest in fabric crafting that we can do together too.

the game also branches out some days into 'wrap the baby' or 'wrap the animal.' that one usually starts with RaRa (that's Elmo if you don't speak Sabine). she pulls him out and brings him and a scrap of fabric to me and i swaddle him up really tightly. some days i swear she is running a daycare center... ALL of the animals must be swaddled. she has great fun bringing them to me with their fabrics for a good wrapping.

Sometimes i hand her one or two of the newly swaddled and she has a very precious moment looking into the animal's eyes and patting it or kissing it. the mothering instinct is alive and well in her. and it is so adorable to watch her care for these little ones.

and, it occurred to me that i will probably spend way more time in my life swaddling dolls and animals than my own children. i mean, i played with dolls for YEARS and sabine was swaddled maybe for the first three months, and max did a lot of that. and now i'll spend a few years helping her wrap her own dolls and animals as she learns to play with them. for good and for bad that actual baby time is just so fleeting!