As we began “facetiming” today I still wondered how our time would go. What I do know is that our time together would be dependent on them and my ability to “go with the flow”. “What have you been up to” I queried. Silence. Okay, so we can direct our conversations. At this age our direction can open up their creativity. “Tell me a joke, D.” “How does a turtle celebrate his birthday?” Then, after a short silence, “With a shell-a- bration!” And so began the drawing of a shell-a-bration.
Since both kids are developmentally different, I now must consider where this could lead. What we do know is that kids unleash their creativity with less fear than we do. We also know that everyone has crayons or pencils at home as well as paper. I left my fear of having my drawings judged and joined them in making a picture of a shell-a-bration. This also opens up the ability to talk without having to remain face to face, much like using play as an avenue of conversation with children. They proudly discussed their drawings, and I discussed mine. Silently I was grateful when D told me my drawing was cool.
Then it was time for a change of scenery. How to accomplish that. Working in my favor was not what magic I could pull out of a hat, or what fancy thing I could give to them, but my knowledge of their developmental place and my knowledge of them as people. I pulled out some bones of mice that I had found a few weeks earlier. Taking the opportunity to share my own interests in the world of science and medicine. I knew that D and A would be interested. Mice, birds and insects fascinated them. After checking with their mother, the three of us delved into the world of anatomy.
A, the three-year-old appreciated the bones like a scary Halloween and D rattled off the parts he knew and related them to his own body parts. To accommodate A we drew a picture of a haunted house.
I celebrate the differences in their personalities and ages. A was so proud of his monster face, D reveled in his drawing of a big house in the shape of a monster with accompanying gruesome figures surrounding it. And now they were getting restless. The screen rotated to walls, floors and flailing feet. I was content knowing I did not get motion sickness. Walls, ceilings, pauses and being disconnected were part of this interaction. I need to “go with the flow”. They were getting restless and so we pretended we were on a roller coaster and floated our screens up and down. They were better at this than I was.
With a screen kiss we said our goodbyes.