We Like to Surprise Our Kids

We like to surprise our kids. Sometimes I get something from Goodwill or from somewhere and I just casually put it on the couch in the living room after the kids have gone to bed. The next day, at some point, the kids discover it and get excited about it (usually, although not always), and we do it together or read it. Extra origami paper has ended up there. New plastic animals. Books. Strewing works well around here.

We also like to surprise our kids with activities. Before our homeschooling group formed, and we were just in a small playgroup with other homeschoolers, I had what I called--ready for some great alliteration here?--Field Trip Fridays!! I would take the kids to a new place every week. Sometimes it was to local libraries or nature preserves, and sometimes it meant drives further afield into Chicago to museums or to Dave's Rock Shop in Evanston. The kids loved not knowing. It added to the thrill of it all. They loved guessing where we might be going--and it didn't matter where we ended up. It was all wonderful.

Today we're going to go to a movie! The kids don't know it. Ha ha ha ha! I still love to surprise them and they still love to be surprised. It's playful and the kids don't get dissappointed if something falls through and we can't get to somewhere we were planning on going. If we tell them and then it falls through, they are really crushed. These are enthusiastic, feeling kids I have here. The ups are way up and the downs are way down. They emote too. They don't just keep it all to themselves and simmer. No. They let it out. No one will ever have to figure out their mood--it is written in their faces and bodies and language and tone of voice and demeanor--crystal clear.

I think they will love the movie. Shhhh! Don't tell...