Can you feel the peace?

After our busy/stressful day yesterday, I planned to take it easier today. We had a planned play date with others from the co-op that we have joined that meets every Weds. We spent two hours at a local park, with 2 other families (6 kids). All 7 kids spent almost the entire time about 200 yards away from the 3 moms, in a creekbed that was dry but still had enough moisture to house some tadpoles and baby frogs/toads. They were entranced the whole time - running occasionally to the pond to get more water or whatever they needed, just exploring the way children naturally do when they are given the opportunity. Mavster came up to me only one time with his hands covered in mud nearly to his elbows to ask where the bathroom was so he could wash up. He ran back to play/discovery as fast as he could.

Once home, we had lunch, and Mavster had some free time to create a program in Scratch. He has a passion for Minecraft right now, which we are working on taming, and minimizing his time playing. He knows he can't play any video games at all until after his sister is home from school (3:30), and then we limit it to about an hour. So, he wanted to make his own version of Minecraft on Scratch, "ScratchCraft," and I was impressed with his persistence and creativity! He has created graphics so that if you click on a square to "mine" it, the square disappears and looks like it breaks apart. He has designed a game avatar, and trees, for at total of 3 different textures so far (grass, bark, leaves). When DD6 got home, he started to teach her how to use Scratch as well. Not for ScratchCraft, but the very basics we started him with last year.

Tonight, DD6 had soccer practice and Mavster played with some other siblings that were there while family members practiced. He had a small group of 3-4 boys following him around, and he was leading their pretend-play.

So, what did my son learn today? He learned how to make "mud glue." I think he also learned a lot more than that and the experiences were all very valuable to him.

Ah, back to the title of this post - what I am seeing in my son is a very calm, relaxed boy who is not stressed out like he was last year. He does what I ask of him and is upbeat about things in general. I think he even wants to learn! :) Yay! I hope this continues that way and keeps getting even better each day!