Pride

This is the urchin who greeted me at pick-up time at day care the other afternoon. The picture doesn't begin to do him justice, somehow failing to show that he was absolutely blackened with grubbiness...dark streaks all over his face, dirt in his ears, grit throughout his hair and in every exposed crevice. At Josiah's school, the outdoor playground is more of a natural place "space," and someone had the bright design idea to incorporate a lot of mulch into the area. It's very clearly the bane of the teachers' lives; the children delight in the many, many play opportunities afforded by mulch, naturally. Let's see...there's mulch digging, mulch throwing, mulch collecting, mulch transferring to the grassy areas, mulch eating... The other day Josiah brilliantly struck on the idea of adding "mulch body art" to the list. His delighted statement upon running up to his teachers shortly before I arrived? "Look!! My Mommy's going to be so proud of me!!" That's my boy! :)

While our so-so camera failed to capture his black-streaked visage, it certainly was capable of portraying the rest of his appearance. Most days he comes home looking basically as he did at drop-off in the morning. But this day? First there was the utter grubbiness. Then there was the Christmas ensemble, since his navy shorts apparently had gotten really wet at the water table midday and had to be swapped for his extra pair of red ones. Best yet, the shorts were on backwards, the drawstring ties undone and hanging down his bottom. Here he's showing his bandage too, as he'd gotten a really, really nasty scrape and cut on his knee the evening before.

Wouldn't it be nice if we all were as innocent, happy, and unconcerned about life and appearances as a two-year-old!?