Have you ever noticed how kids will take an empty box, toilet paper roll or other normally-discarded item and have hours and hours of fun with them, and yet if you spend more than $20 on some 'fancy store-bought toy', you might get lucky to have the kids spend more than 10 minutes with it? I just love how normal, every day items lying around the house or even out in nature bring out the imagination in children. My kids, for example, are so very happy to just find a stick or dandelion outside and a few other treasures to use as a base-point for their play time.
The weather has finally been cooperating for us to spend large amounts of time outside. This may seem like a given to other families who spend much of their day outside, but with such small children around in my home childcare, it's harder to get outside unless the weather is very nice. Don't get me wrong: we DO get outside all year 'round, just not as much as we do during the nice weather.
My forays into nature this year, along with a great deal of research, have been bringing me to an uncomfortable conclusion: I want to move toward a more Waldorf-inspired home and childcare. This is not uncomfortable in the sense that I do not agree with Waldorf, but rather that the more I read about the hard plastic toys can do, along with how more nature-based activities are so great for kids, the more I realize that many things in our home are going to have to be modified! The uncomfortable truth is that we've been living in a house LOADED with plastic for so long, that I'm amazed we're as healthy as we are.
I don't want to live in a state of guilt for all of the years we've been bombarded with not only plastic, but also toys and gadgets that take us away from nature. I have to accept the quote that 'When we know better, we do better' as my motto. I can only move forward from here and do better than before.
Due to financial constraints, I am going to have to phase out the use of so much plastic in our home slowly. Wherever I can get rid of it, I will. It does not seem feasible to me in this moment to eliminate ALL plastic from our home, so I think we'll have to strike a bit of a balance. All things in moderation, I guess.
I want to begin to phase out many of the plastic toys - both our family toys as well as the childcare toys. I realize this is going to be quite an endeavor, so as I stated before - moderation will be the key. I just want to focus more on natural materials as well as toys that spark the imagination of the kids. I really love the idea of incorporating a season table in the childcare. I also love the idea of bringing more of nature into the home for all of us to enjoy.
Getting more in touch with nature really speaks to me and my belief system. It will be a great way to incorporate my beliefs into my family life and childcare without being obnoxious about it. (LOL!) Most people would run for the hills if you stated that you lean toward a 'pagan' lifestyle, especially if they are going to put their children in your care! They don't balk as much, however, if your stance is that you are running a Waldorf-inspired program. It's funny how a simple label can make a difference in how people view you.
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