Future Rock Balancer?

A couple weeks ago, Peanut wanted to go outside to play. She had been recovering from a cold so her outdoor play had been limited, but the weather was nice that day and she was doing better so I bundled her up and sent her into the backyard. I asked Diva to go with her so she would have company.

They played for quite some time out there and had a great time. The next day, however, I noticed this:

A couple years ago, we purchased these rocks as a border for our mulch. We have drainage problems in the back yard and the mulch gets washed away with heavy rain. When we added the rocks, the girls were lectured about playing with them. I didn’t want them spread all over the yard. Peanut has never given much attention to the rocks so when I saw these piles (there are several more around the perimeter) I immediately went to Diva. Having denied doing it, I turned to the teen, even though Diva blamed Peanut.

Sure enough, it appears that Peanut is the culprit of these little rock piles.

With a typical kid, I wouldn’t have given these rock piles much thought. Kids love rocks. The teen used to collect them when she was little. She loved them so much, that we often told her if she was good in a restaurant, she could get a rock when we left. Sometimes it was just that white gravel, but she was happy.

With Peanut, though, these rock piles mean so much more. I don’t really know how to put it into words, but to me it means she is moving out of the toddler phase. It means she is learning from her classmates at school and I wonder if she sometimes plays with rocks there. Maybe she saw something on television about rock balancing and decided to give it a try. With my other kids I could easily ask, “What were you thinking?” but with her, I just have to guess.

I’ll never really know the answer to my questions, but it really doesn’t matter. These rock piles, which in many ways would annoy me under other circumstances, make me smile knowing they were built by Peanut. They are a reminder that my little girl is growing up and in many ways, she is more alike than different.

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