Rambling in the Rain

While I was looking through iTunes for running tracks, I came across albums that have been compiled specifically for running or workout purposes! I love the idea of this because I was just about to compile my own album to run to.
For once, the weather was warm and sunny and so after school I took the children to Ruilsip Lido with a bag of stale bread to feed the ducks. The children love doing this only today there were far more swans and geese than there were ducks. The swans started running towards us as soon as they saw me rustling a plastic carrier bag and the size of some of these swans dwarfed poor little K who was terrified. R found the whole greedy swan thing quite funny and was determined to stay until she had finished feeding the swans all the bread.
It really is annoying just how much the weather affects my mood. I do wish that it didn't make any difference to me, just like the children, but it really does make me feel down when it's miserable out there. I think I should do something about this because I don't want to pass on my mood and moaning to my children! We had an amusing conversation about the rain the other day. R asked me who make it rain and why. I gave her the answer that all life needs water to live and grow, such as trees, plants, animals and people. She thought about this for a moment and then said, ''But mummy, we get water from the tap, we don't need rain. So why does it have to rain?' I then gave her the explanation of how the water from our taps gets there. And more questions followed. They went on and on and on. I really enjoyed being asked these kinds of questions as they reveal quite a lot about her thought processes. I love answering them too and seeing the look on her face as she takes on board the information I give her. One of her questions was "What if it rains so much that the rivers flood and the people and houses and trees sink?" I had to think about that one, the challenge is that the answer I give needs to be age appropriate, easy for her to understand and the foundation upon which she will build on.
This conversation reminded me of the incredible amount of power we have over our children, in that we can make them believe anything we want, and it also made me feel sad that there are many parents who exploit and abuse this power for financial gain. This is the case in many third world countries (child labour), but even in the world's most developed countries beauty pageant competitions exist for under 5's. If you haven't seen Toddlers and Tiaras, don't watch it unless you want to witness an ethically and morally wrong activity. I would even challenge the fact that it is a competition.
The capacity and potential to learn that children have is astounding.  Each and every day, there is something new that my children say or do that makes me swell with joy. Even more astounding is the capacity of my love for them, it just keeps expanding and growing, and in the words of one of their favourite characters, to infinity and beyond!