The Cloud

The little girl look excitedly out of the window of the plane. The plane had just started roaring its engines, the little girl felt the grip of the seat telling her to sit comfortably. But she did not want to do so, out of the window was where all the excitement lay. The runaway giving to the speed of the airplane has it roared running to the sky and clouds.
The little girl could see the trees passing fast, and faster. The little girl could see now the trees from up, all the plush green, like little broccoli. The trees gave way to big houses, then to smaller houses, then to little houses. The little girl could see the bus on the highway, then the car, then another car, soon she could see the full highway with lots of little cars, the little cars seemed like little ants taking food to their house.

And the clouds were approaching, the little girl could see distinctively the clouds approaching. It felt as if the little girl was swimming in cloud candy. It soon became white all around to give way to a fantastic new scenery. From the windows, the little girl could see the many clouds, making a fluffy white carpet where the little girl could put her soft feet. The little girl took off her shoes, she wanted to feel the soft clouds under. And she ran.
The little girl ran on top of the cloud with bare feet, she jumped from one cloud mushroom to the next. She would flap her arms to help her with the balance, especially when the mushrooms were very distant. It felt good, the little girl laughed, giggled, as she jumped onto a new mushroom. Then flap her arms, this new mushroom is very far away. She jumped, she was eager to make it to the next white mushroom, but she had not yet tried such a distance. Flap the arms once more, give a bigger try, stretch the neck to kae the jump longer. She was in mid jump, suddenly she stopped laughing, she started to doubt if she could reach the next mushroom. The jump seemed to take all the time in the world, the little girl could sense time freezing as she swam with her arms, stretch an arm, advance a leg, through the other arm. The little girl could feel the arm stretching as far has it could. The little girl closed the eyes as if it helped pass the time, as if not seeing the soft white carpet between the white mushrooms made the jump easier. Another leg stretched, another arm swing forward, the little girl opened her eyes and saw her foot reaching for the mushroom. Soon the second foot landed on the soft plushy white mushroom. Both knees bent to make the land easier, but it was not needed, the white mushrooms where very soft, she landed softly on the big white mushroom.
The mushroom liked the little girl, it slowly transformed into a comfortable white sofa where the little girl landed. The little girl sat on the white sofa and saw an opening in the cloud floor. The opening became large, she was looking into the TV screen, she was swing the fantastic forest in the white television. High above the little girl could see the little birds flying around the Forrest trees. All the little birds chipped cheerfully a beautiful song. The little girl followed the song, singing softly the repeating melody with the little birds. Papi could hear the little girl humming some nursery rhyme, but he could not clearly identify the song. He placed the pillow under the little girls head, and covered her with the small blanket.
Papi was happy, he liked when the little girl fell asleep on the plane trips.
And the little girl was happy, she was learning to whistle with the little birds.

Indians in the City

How are your trips through the city with your child ? Do all the details pop-up ? Does your child interact with the surroundings ? What is like a simple thing as a bus station ? or an underground train trip ? Do you get those magazines with toys ? Tell me your story.
here is mine...

The little girl was excited, Papi promised to take her to the city. Papi was going to fetch something complicated, but didn't matter, it was always fun to go with Papi to the city.
Hot day, very hot day!
Down the stairs and out the door, the little girl ran down as well as the first 40 meters out of the door.
"Papi, is to hot! I want my cappy"
Poor Papi, going back home and fetch the cap for the little girl. But it couldn't be any cap, Papi new better, it had to be the Football Club cap. No other chance! The little girl had begged for 2 all months for the cap. Not that she understood what 2 months meant, but Papi understood it, and after all that intensity begging, even though Papi was not from the same Football Club, he couldn't continue ignoring the requests from the little girl.
They finally managed to get going, at first she was running around curious with everything they found on the way. Be it a rock out of place, some fallen leaves with an interesting shape, or simply a butterfly.
The little girl always managed to wonder Papi. Papi wouldn't even look twice to a rock on the side of the street, much less to recognize the shape of a crocodile in that rock.
"Papi, look Papi, the crocodile, it must be looking for Captain Hook."

They soon arrived at the bus stop, but oddly as they approached the bus stop they seemed to be getting smaller and smaller, or either the bus stop was getting bigger and bigger. The little girl was afraid and Papi understood why, we could see many spiderwebs involving the bus stop. The webs where very big, and we had to avoid the spider webs together with the hundreds of busy ants that ran all over the place. We saw some ants getting caught in the webs, and the little girl was afraid when the big spider seamed to be coming in our direction. It was a scary sight, the legs of the small spider seemed to be 2 meters wide.
Papi caught some sticks on the floor and tossed into the spider web in front of the spider. Has Papi threw the sticks they would get glued to the web, seeming to just float there. Somehow, in the chaotic setting, the little girl laughed and said that the sticks hanging in the web looked like a birthday party. It really was so. Suddenly the spider did not seem so frightening. Just in time to see the big red lady bug arrive to get us out of the way of the spider.
The little girl and Papi entered the bus, it was cool, the air conditioned freshened both as they got in and sat. In such a hot day, this was a real pleasure, entering the fresh bus renewed the wish to go to the city. The little girl was almost discouraged from continuing the trip. Soon the bus arrived at the train station, and out again into the hot day.
"Papi, I want water".
Papi felt desperate with this cry. Where could he get water? Need to look for it at the train station. They moved on in the direction of the train station.
"Papi, don't want to go there."
"But there is water there, come, Papi will get you a bottle of water"

"NO, DON'T WANT TO GO THAT WAY"
"Why is that?"
"In that cavern there is a big bad dragon!"
Papi looked into the entrance to the underground train. He was staring into the lair of the big dragon that had all the pirate treasure there.
"Come, Papi has the crystal sword, I will protect you, the dragon has a treasure of cold drinks and ice cream, we will fight the dragon and get cold water, with luck we will get the ice cream as well".

And off they both went into the lair of the big bad dragon. Papi was holding his phone with the light-saber app making the dreadful sounds of an epic sword fight. They managed to pass the corridors and reemerge at the ground level once again. When they reemerged at the platform, the little girl was holding a bottle of cold water from the spoils of the big bad dragon lair. The spoils also included a bow and 3 rubber arrows.
"Papi, now I can protect you with my bow!"
When we entered the train, many other fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, seemed to have all passed through the same epic battle. Many of the kids had bows and rubber arrows. They started all chatting in their secret language. The city today was receiving an invasion of little Indians.

Papi is a Cloud

How is life when you just want to sit down in peace ? Does your child allow you to do that ? How is the energy level of your child playing alone ? Does your child play like a tornado taking everything in it's path or your child plays calmly alone not making any noise ? How do you feel ? Do you like it that way or would you prefer any different ? Tell me your story.
Here is mine...

The little girl jumped on the sofa. The little girl jumped with Bolt the dog on one hand, and Jumpy the rabbit on the other. Bolt didn't like to jump, that was for Jumpy to do. Bolt would rather run than to be just going up and down. It seemed a bit pointless to be on the same spot going up and down, but he's owner, the little girl, seemed to love it. She was smiling and laughing as she jumped up and down.

Jumpy on the other hand was very happy. He always liked when he's owner, the little girl, held him while jumping. The little girl jumped along the L-shaped sofa, leaving no cushion behind without a couple of jumps. Jumpy's ears followed the pattern. The ears were in sync with the little girls hair. Even jumpy's mouth seamed to have a smile as big as the little girl's.
Papi passed by to pickup a book he had left on the sofa. As he did so, the little girl waved at Papi. She was laughing and giggling, Papi was feeling like he could do well with less 50 kg and less 25 years. The sofa's cushions seemed really to invite the jumping up and down. Either that or simply the smiling little girl holding a plush dog and a plush rabbit. one more giggle, Papi smiled back at the little girl.
Since Papi could not jump up and down on the sofa, he decided at least to sit there while the little girl was jumping. while doing so, he dropped the book. The little girl promptly giggled at Papi's mistakes:
"Papi is goofy, Papi is goofy!"
The little girl seemed happy for once having Papi making the nonsense stuff instead of her, it felt good see that Papi also made mistakes, she suddenly felt that she was not alone in the world of silly stuff.

Just as the little girl laughed and sang the new lullaby loudly she banged into Papi while he was sitting. Somehow that laughing and giggling got contagious and infected Papi as well. They both giggled together for being goofy at the same time. Now was Papi's turn to feel good about not being alone making mistakes.
Papi sat and the little girl started a new jumping pattern. When jumping along the L-shaped sofa she passed by Papi, she would sit on his belly. And the lullaby got a new verse when she did that.
"Papi is a cloud! Papi is a cloud!"
That seemed quite a nice way of referring to Papi's extra pounds around the waist. Somehow at that moment the cloud suddenly became radiant as if the sun was just revealing itself from behind the cloud.
The little girl brought all the cushions and built a wall around Papi's belly. She carefully laid the cushions in the same pattern as when she built the Lego walls. Carefully laying the bricks made the soft but solid wall come to life around Papi's belly.
The little girl disappeared for a while to suddenly reappear dressed with the pirate clothes. The little girl became Captain Hook that could fly and was jumping on all the clouds looking for Peter Pan. 
Peter Pan would have a tough time today escaping the sword invests of the energetic Captain Hook. 

The Castle

What is it like to take your child to visit monuments ? Can they be still ? Do they run around the place ? Do they ask questions ? Are they in search for something ? Tell me your story.
Here is mine...

Papi was reading the story about the longest castle in Europe. A beautiful story about a beautiful castle, but what impressed more was the small modern village actually thriving and living between the castle walls. It's not everyday that you see the mailman passing along the street delivering mail to the small house along the castle walls. Something strange and paradoxical about the image, nevertheless with the charm of a small well preserved village.

The mailman had parked the bicycle near the fountain and was now delivering a small parcel to one of the traditional hoses. The plain white wall contoured by the wooden windows and doors, along with the wooden vases with the blooming pink and red flowers gave a touch of simplicity to the picture.

Nearby a tourist was taking pictures of the fountain while examining with great detail the engravings around the fountain. it told a story of a king in love, that everyday his subjects came to wish a wife for the king and threw a coin into the fountain.

Nearby we could see a small two story restaurant, it advertised a dish of roast boar cooked in the central fire pit located in the bottom story. The great walls seemed to contain and amplify the heat within the room, thus we get a feeling that it is now only the boar that is getting cooked. Everybody could feel the intensive heat that gave the meat that succulent taste by not drying the meat.

As we sat on the top story enjoying the roast boar we could see another paradoxical scene. We could see cloth lines in several small houses with modern clothes handing. Some pairs of jeans and colored t-shirts seemed quite out of place, but provided nevertheless a joyful color to the scene.

One, Two, Three, Four, Five

How did you teach the numbers to your child ? Did he pick them up ? Did you teach in a song ? Used the fingers ? Did he change the order ? And understanding the meaning when counting ? Tell me your story.
Here is mine...

- One, Two, Four, Five!
The sequence of numbers could be heard! I was amazed that the neighbors did not yet complain.
- One, Two, Four, Five!
And three kept missing.
- One, Two, Four, Five!
Yes, indeed, the three is still missing.
- Little Girl, let me help you, lets count the little fingers: One little finder, two little fingers, three, four little fingers, five!
- One, Two, Four, Five.
- Where is number Three Little Girl ?
- One, Two, Three, FIVE!
Ok, the three got in to replace the four... this is going to take some time!
- Little Girl, One, Two, Three, Four, Five!
- One, Two, Three, FIVE!
- Little Girl, let's count the fingers: One, Two, Three, Four , Five.
- One, Two, Three,  Five, FIVE!
Should I insist ? The Little Girl will tired and irritated, better switch now to something different.
And I started telling the number story to the Little Girl!

The little girl lived in one tent. With the little girl lived with her father Chief Numbercounter in the same tent. In the one tent lived two people, the little girl and the big chief. The tent had 3 corners inside. The door in the middle, two corners each side, and another third corner in the back!
The tent had three corners, one, two, three.
The little girl gave a gift to the big chief. She had the surprise wrapped in beautiful wrapping paper. The Chief Numbercounter was surprised with the gift. The little girl had used beautiful pink paper to wrap her surprise. The Chief Numbercounter unwrapped the gift. The big chief pulled one corner of the paper, he pulled a second corner of the paper, he pulled a third corner of the paper and the surprise was revealed to Chief Numbercounter. Wrapped in the pink paper was a corner, a brand new corner for the tent.
The big chief picked up carefully the corner and took it to the tent. Now the tent had one more corner. So the Chief Numbercounter started counting the corners of the tent: One, Two, Three and the new one FOUR. Now the tent had four corners! One, Two, Three, Four!

The little girl looked through the door to the inside of the tent. Before the new corner, the floor of the tent was a triangle, it had three corners. But big chief put the new corner to the tent. Now the floor of the tent was different, the floor of the tent was now a square. The little girl looked into the tent through the tent's door, magic, it was now a square.
The big chief teaches one more thing to the little girl... magic! Look little girl, look to the top of the tent, there is another corner, see up there ? The little girl was amazed, yes, in the ceiling of the tent there was another corner. That is corner number FIVE! so let's count the corners now.

- One corner, two corners, three. Four corners, FIVE!
- One, Two, Three, Four, FIVE!
The tent now is a pyramid. It has a square floor, and four triangle walls, with a total of five corners.
- One, Two, Three, Four, FIVE!
- One, Two, Three, Four, FIVE!

The Tent

What happens when you dress up your child in costumes ? Does your child play the part of the costume ? Does he enter into roleplay ? Do you play games with him in costumes ? What are his reactions ? Does it generate stories that live for a while ? Tell me your story.
Here is mine...

The little girl tied the red scarf around her neck. It was part of the little girl's dress code together with blue jeans and yellow shirt. A white waistcoat with black patches topped by a cool cowboy hat.

Sheriff Woody would definitively pick her for deputy. The little girl was soon to meet the Sheriff as he was out searching for the lost black sheep of the herd.

The little had made a drawing of when Sheriff Woody crossed the bridge at the borders of the town. It was an impressive moment for the little girl, for she had never seen anybody go so far from town, and even less to cross the bridge to unknown land. The drawing was to be her present to Sheriff Woody. She made the drawing with all the details, the green Sheriff with the big blue sheriff cross that went from boots to the sheriff's hat. The noble and faithful purple horse to every detail crossing the long red bridge over the curly blue river. You could see the fear in the sheriff's eyes as he tried to avoid eye contact with the huge mouth green crocodile with five dangerous teeth. It would certainly be very bad for Sheriff Woody if the huge mouth green crocodile would have laid the two top teeth or the three bottom teeth in the sheriff's leg.

The other side the little girl did not see. She only heard stories from her father that was working in the saloon cleaning glasses all day. But her father was the best bartender of all the town. There was not a better bartender in all of the town to be found, even at the only saloon where the Indians went to fetch the firewater. The little girl never understood why the Indians liked firewater or firerice, or firechicken, or firepotatoes. All of those firethings made her breath heavily and drink a lot of water. But the Indians liked their curry very much, they eat it all day, they eat it all night, they were always eating curry.

But the little girl's father did tell her the stories of the other side of the bridge. Father always told her the stories of the strange land of the Indians. The little girl even listened once to her father talking with the Indians after he had sent her to bed. She did not sleep. The little girl and her white stuffed dog Lightbulb had gone on tiptoes to the saloon's kitchen door and listened on father speaking with the Indians.

Father told the story of the magic tent that traveled to the moon every night that the moon was a full circle up in the night sky. It seemed that the Indians traveled many times to the moon, and brought all wonderful things from the moon. And one time Sheriff Woody went to the tent to have tea with the chief father of Tiger Lily and Peter Pan, it was when the astronaut crashed on the moon. Sheriff Woody with the help of Peter Pan and the magic tent went to the moon to rescue the astronaut.

Now father gave the little girl the magic tent. It is now in little girl's room. Every night that the moon is a full circle, the little girl will sleep in the magic tent, and in the mornings will tell father the real stories of what happens in the moon. And she knows the secret. The moon is friend of a painter. But the painter is very bad, he is always painting the moon and erasing the moon to make the circle good. The painter does not know how to make good round circles, that is why he is always erasing and painting the moon.

The Shooting Star

Does your child sleep easily ? Did you manage to teach him a good sleeping schedule ? Do you suffer getting him to sleep ? How many stories do you need to tell before he falls asleep ? How long is the bed preparation time ? Tell me your story.
Here is mine...

The little girl laid quietly on the bed reading the book. Actually she was not reading, she didn't know yet. She could recognize the letter "V", daddy had thought her that letter, he was trying for some time to teach the little girl how to write her name. But didn't matter, she was looking at the pictures. She could see pictures of turtles, small little turtles that would ran on the sand shore trying to reach the sea. The turtles were very small, near some of them we could still see the remains of the eggshells.
Funny little creatures the turtles!
The little girl turned some pages of the book together. If someone was watching he who say the book had pages as thick as the pencils themselves. The seashore gave place to the farm, and at the farm the little girl could see some sheep. The sheep looked like little clouds over the green grass. With this thought the little girl Immediately look out of the window to the sky.
The sky was bright cerulean blue, and had little sheep playing around. The little sheep where chasing a little falling star. The star sang along:

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are.

up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky."

And all the little sheep following the shooting star sang in choir: 

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

How I wonder what you are.

How I wonder what you are." 

And the little girl with a big happy smile counted the little sheep as they ran by her window: 
One little sheep, two little sheep, three. Four little sheep, five little sheep, six. 
That was enough to make the little girl fall to sleep. And has she fell asleep she started dreaming, she was unlocking her imagination.