Fancy shoes in the sandbox...find your FUN!

The sandbox may just be the easiest form of entertainment, although those huge empty boxes rank up there as well for children.  My daughter loves playing in sand and believe you me; if there is sand nearby, she will find it and bring plenty home for all to enjoy.  Yesterday, when I picked her up from pre-school she was dressed of course in one of her fun pink dresses and her fancy black dress shoes.  This girl loves fancy clothes and shoes, my joy on Friday is knowing I can wear wear jeans...not this little chick, no jeans and tennis shoes in her wardrobe any day of the week (she is four).

Yesterday, after a long week in the education profession (which I do love, but there are still hard situations that can drain even the strongest soul) we arrived home and my daughter informed me she wanted to take her shoes off, but she assured me that she had already gotten all the sand out of her shoes.  We live in Florida, sand is inevitable and I really do love it!  

I unbuckled the first shoe and the sand began to pour onto the floor.  My immediate sigh of frustration was recognized by my daughter and she responded with a soft apology for playing in the sandbox.  I responded by stating that when you wear your dress shoes you probably should not jump in the sandbox.  The exact moment it came out of my mouth I knew it was wrong.  

The sandbox is where we should all be daily and we should have fun and wear our fancy shoes and wear our fancy dresses and LOVE every minute.  Scooping my daughter up we made our way to the bathtub, I took a deep breath, we removed her shoes,  rinsed off her feet and cleaned her shoes inside and out.  Then, I looked her in the eyes and told her to play in the sandbox whenever she wanted, wear whatever shoes she wanted, have loads of FUN, and never let anyone stop her! She smiled and then asked if she could play in the bathtub like the pool with her toys.  The answer was YES!  I will leave you with this...
  • Take a deep breath
  • Find your sandbox
  • Dive in with all your toys and tools
  • Enjoy every moment 
And MOST IMPORTANTLY...never let sand out of the sandbox ruin the FUN, even when it spills over into your shoes and on the floor...cleaning up is also a necessary part of life!
A picture of my daily reminder to have fun in my sandbox daily!

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