I love thinking back to when I was a kid. So very, very long ago - I know. :) I am so thankful to have so many great memories of my childhood - friends, family, trips, school.....I really am so blessed. Some of my favorite "memories" are not actual events, but things that were important or familiar to me. A favorite dish or song or a place in the house. What's even cooler is when I get to make memories with my kids that I know they will remember forever; and still cooler yet is when they are mirror images of what I experienced as a child.
I have noticed these connections being made with Lydia as she begins (well, continues) to explore my room, my mommy stuff and mimic my every move. One of her favorite places right now is my closet. She loves to put on every pair of shoes and tell me how they do or don't match her outfit. She touches each of my hanging clothes, and wraps herself in the long silky dresses and scarves. Then she plays hide-and-seek in the back corner of the closet, surrounding herself with my shoes.
I absolutely adore this play, because I can literally remember doing the same thing. I remember how cool my mom's shoes were; they were big and they had HEELS. I loved walking the short stretch from one end of her closet to the other, because my head would be buried in her silky, sweet smelling clothes. Then, to find one of her very fancy dresses in the back of her clothes would be like finding a buried treasure -and I dreamed of the day that I would wear special dresses like that!
Lydia is also so interested in my jewelry box and make-up drawer. They seem to hold treasures and special nick-nacks that only mommies can have. She asks about each piece of jewelry or each make-up brush, and she wants to know how and where I would use it. The fake gems look like diamonds to her, and the long tossed-aside hair clips are like a princess crown!
I know she is just dreaming-up ways that she would wear each and every earring and bracelet, because I did the same thing as a little girl. I remember exactly what my mom's old wooden jewelry box looked like (which is why I wanted a wooden one too) and how it smelled, lined with fake red velvet. There were special drawers in the bottom where she kept her really nice jewelry and I always wanted her to get it out and wear it. Those boxes held not only cool stuff, but means of conversation and connection about womanhood and growing-up.
Those special times and places that I shared with my mom were obviously very important and lasting in my mind, and I want to make those same memories with Lydia. I love having her want to be around me! It's amazing how those times just seem to pop-up, but it takes only a few sweet hugs and moments to make them into memories.
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