4-Year Olds

I wish my children could stay 4-years old forever. Of all the ages, of all the experiences, of all the learning and development, 4-years is my favorite of favorites. I thought maybe it was just Austin, because when he was 4 it was my favorite time, but NOPE, it's the same way with Sam.

4-year olds can dress themselves, although they might not actually pick clothes that match and I might have to intervene before we appear in public. I definitely have to intervene when a long sleeve shirt and long pants are the clothes of choice on a 90+ degree day. But how fantastic is it to say, "Sam, go get dressed" and most of the time he goes to his room and does just that.

4-year olds can brush their own teeth, and actually do a pretty good job. Austin wasn't as easy in this department, it took a lot more effort for me to get his teeth sparkly. Sam loves to brush his teeth and he gets them all and does a great job getting all the "teeth monsters."

4-year olds don't wear diapers. How great is this accomplishment!

4-year olds help with household chores because they think it is the greatest thing to actually use the vacuum. They love to be like us, and want to be doing what we are doing. I will walk in the kitchen and Sam will be standing on his foot-stool at the sink "washing dishes." He is so excited to pick up his books so we can vacuum his bedroom floor. The books never get put back on the shelf the way I would like them, but he makes a nice pile and that is a good place to start. Many occassions I have found wet-clean clothes from the washer in with the dry-clean clothes in the dryer. If I give him a rag and tell him to wipe something down, he never complains, he is happy to help! I have to watch him very closely when I am pruning the shrubs and dead-heading the flowers, because he will find something to use as a tool and the shrubs will have big holes cut out of them, where he attempted to help. Thankfully those grow back fairly quickly.

4-year olds have the BEST imagination. Sam tells me the greatest stories about his interpretations of the world around him. These stories all contain elements of truth but have fantastic imaginative twist and turns and each time he tells them they get better and more exciting. He loves driving his "motorcycle" in big-open spaces. Always, holding the "handle-bars," making the engine noise, and running around and around and around. One day he was at the bank with me and was "driving his motorcycle slowly" through the lobby. Holding the handle bars, making the engine noise, and walking around the lobby, my assistant asked him what he was doing. Of course, he was amazed she didn't know! He looked at her and said, "I'm driving my motorcycle, but very slowly." Of course, she thought that was incredibly funny and brilliant. He creates scenarios with his toys and can sit contently and play when he chooses to. Most of the time, he is outside, playing in his sandbox with his sandbox toys, climbing the willow tree and yelling from the top, or riding his tri-cycle.

4-year olds vocabularies are growing. Austin's vocabulary at two-years old was amazing! He could carry a conversation with anyone when he was two. He was definitely ahead of his years, even then. Sam says words like, "amazing," "absolutely," correctly in complete sentences and most of the time I can't pay attention to what he is trying to tell me because I am in awe at his use of words. One of my favorites is "feeterater" (theater). He referrs to people, in general, as "humans." He'll tell us something that someone did and then add, they are "good humans."

4-years olds never forget anything. Sam will remind us of something said, or something we read, or something we did months ago. He will remind us of simple things done together, like going down a water slide. These are every day reminders of the simpliest things to me and you, but they mean everything to him.