Ode to Sand
Gritty and rough.
My daughter loves you,
Dirty or clean.
Pails, shovels and sifters--
Friends come running.
You live at the beach
And the park.
You also live in
The stroller,
The car,
And every room in our house.
You find all the cracks
And crevices.
All of them.
You are a friend.
I never knew that having children would bring so much sand into my life. We live in a major city and have no yard, so we play every day at a nearby park (we have the choice of several). The evolution of my daughter’s play went from swings to sand to slides to sand and now to climbing and sand. She dives in it and has eaten quite a bit of it!
She manages to get sand in all of her pockets, in her shoes, in her diaper and in her ears. She also brings it into the house (despite the emptying of the shoes outside). It ends up in her bed at nap time, in her high chair at lunch time, on the changing table and I have several times wound up with quite a bit in my bra!
I’m getting used to it. I wear shoes in the laundry room and have put a little rug outside the laundry room door so whatever sand I drag in there in the laundry baskets stays in there. But it is everywhere, it seems, and it requires more sweeping, vacuuming and laundry than I’d like to be doing
You might be thinking, why don’t I just stay away from the sand box?
I would NEVER do that! Not just because my daughter enjoys it. But because it is a glorious place where children not only get dirty, but they play, they imagine, they learn and they touch. We have built "mouse houses," tunnels, long winding roads and, of course, castles. We have added leaves, flowers, bark and wood chips to our creations. Adding water completely changes everything! We sink our fingers in and notice the heat and coolness and the grit.
The sand box is also a social place for making new friends, sharing toys, and beginning to learn how to deal with conflict. My daughter is outgoing and confident. She is learning to be patient with other children who are less so. She is also learning how to incorporate the play of her younger brother who delights in ‘destroying’ her creations! It is always nice to have enough sand toys to share with a new friend and it has always been nice when others have returned the favor to us.
Just as importantly, the sand box is a place for parents to meet other parents and share experiences, both the ones in front of our eyes in the sand, and those that are troubling us, or exciting us enough to want to talk about it. Many an isolated new or 'old' mom (or nanny or "insert caregiver here") has found solace in a shared smile from someone who has "been there!"
In short, the sand box is the place to be! So grab your pail and shovel (a plastic spoon and a recycled yogurt container will work) and go get dirty! Oh, and don't forget to bring along your kids!
