Surprises, maps, and ice cream

I am not a mom who plays with her children. I am always busy doing something. I am not on my phone playing games or on the computer checking Facebook; although, I have done that too. But, most of the time, I am cleaning the kitchen, vacuuming, putting laundry away, emptying the trash cans, closing doors, turning off lights, helping someone in the bathroom/kitchen/outside, changing diapers, feeding, cooking, cleaning after all the feeding and cooking, emptying dishwasher, loading the dishwasher, packing the diaper bag for our next outing, cleaning bottles, filling bottles, answering questions, sending a quick text, planning, and yes, sometimes sewing. So, I am not a mom who plays with her children; however, I do make sure I sit down on the floor with them and watch them play. I mostly get climbed over, and I end up pretending to be someone/-thing or pretending I am saying something. (I find this pretending thing quite tedious, but I go along with it for awhile until the dishes are calling my name in the kitchen.) I may not be good at playing, but I read books. I build with blocks. I draw and do art projects. I build with Legos. (I don't play with the Lego houses and characters.) And, I am really good at coming up with adventures outside of our house. I sometimes have to remind myself that the girls need to stay home and just do nothing...or play with their toys. But, the girls enjoy going to places and having adventures just like I do. Most of the time, the adventures (as we call them) are nothing special. It might an errand to Target, but when you combine it with an ice cream at an ice cream shop and a map, the whole trip just turned into a fun adventure.

Olivia loves maps. And, she loves surprises. I think she probably loves surprises more than maps, but when the two are combined...she is an extremely happy kid.She has always been a big fan of maps. When we go anywhere that may have a map like a zoo, amusement park, mall, she will make sure to grab a map and follow it very carefully. She likes to make a plan with her map. She wants to see where everything is. And, she wants to check the map often. She has a nice collection of maps from places we have been to. She takes them out periodically and looks at them carefully. She remembers where things were and what we did. I think they are for her ways to remember things that happened. I think it is sweet.

Olivia also loves surprises. The surprise doesn't have to be a big one. It can be as easy as a piece of gum with me when I pick her up from school. Although, it is guaranteed that she will ask for more surprises after she has gotten the gum in her mouth. She won't be totally satisfied with it, but for a short few seconds, she is really happy. "My äiti surprised me!" Because she loves surprises and maps so much, I have started creating them while she is at school. Usually, I am motivated by having to run an errand, but sometimes it is because we don't have any other plans, and I want to take the girls somewhere for the afternoon.

This week, I wanted to go to IKEA to see if they have all the outdoor furniture for sale again. (They do!) So, I decided to surprise Olivia, and create a map for her. The map started with her riding her scooter home from school. Then we got into our car and drove to IKEA. When we were approaching IKEA and could see it from the car, I had to slow down so that Olivia could check that the letters were indeed the same in the building as they were on her map. (What other store is a huge blue building with humongous yellow letters on it??? Oh Olivia!) The next stop ... well, I should have added it to the map ... was the family bathroom because it has a toilet that is just Olivia's size, and we have to check it out when we go to IKEA every. single. time. (Olivia is a bit of a bathroom connoisseur, but that is a whole other blog post.) We had lunch, and then Olivia got to visit Småland while Matilda and I shopped for outdoor furniture. The trip's highlight, of course, was the $1 frozen yogurt before heading home. The whole trip took us a little over two hours, and we were all happy and got what we needed. I got to visit IKEA and do some research, and Olivia had a surprise adventure that included a map. Matilda...well, she was just happy as she always is.

I was able to locate another map from a few weeks ago. This map was an adventure for a Thursday afternoon. We have a fun science and wildlife center called CuriOdyssey near our home. We have a yearly membership, and we visit quite often. It is so close that we can  just go for an hour. On this day, I packed a lunch for us and drew the map. When I picked Olivia up from school, I gave her the map. She was thrilled! She started studying the map carefully, and then told me that we needed to get home and get into the car. She even recognized my drawing of the logo, which, of course, made me pretty happy since I was sure she would not recognize it. We had a fun afternoon at CuriOdyssey even though the too curious squirrel ruined our outdoor lunch, but we loved watching the otters swim and have fun.

Another thing that Olivia loves almost more than surprises and maps is ice cream. Actually. Olivia loves ice cream more than maps and surprises. Any day is extra special when she gets to go out and have ice cream. We do it a lot. Why not, right? So, also on this day, the adventure would have not been perfect if there wasn't ice cream involved. Another fun adventure with the girls!

So, even though I don't play with toys with my children, I spend quality time with them exploring new and old places and creating (hopefully) fun memories with them. I know that too soon my maps and adventures are not going to be something that makes Olivia excited. I have decided to enjoy it now and do it as often as I can. Why not, right?