Work is our core. Work is what we do. We get employed for a 9:00am to 5:00pm job only to work 5:00am to 9:00pm. Our pride stem from where we work and how well we seem to be doing.  Thank God for the nights or we would only have co-dwellers whom we call spouse because we eked out one day… the wedding day.

Oblivious of the night duties, we get hit by the one conversation that brings us unspeakable joy alongside many discoveries. We get creative, elated, excited even on the news of our bundle of joy. Barely having time for the Doctor’s appointments, we arrive late for the main event… The push event.

Work takes the whole of us, our days, each and every moment. Little wonder, soon enough we begin to attach importance to all we acquire with the proceeds of work. Statements change from how useful to how much?  Your knowledge of time is authenticated by the cost of the watch telling it. 

Saturdays become sacred, prescribed for the stress filled week as day of rest. The older toddler tucks on the duvet, you feel disturbance. The baby gives a loud laugh, you hear a scream. Barely having a life after work.  11:00am but not quite awake. Reach for the phone and it’s not there.  Finally, muster enough strength to get up (in search of the phone) stagger into the living room...And BAM...  

Hard time taking the phone from the young man, finally you have it, all wet with saliva plus, He’s been drumming with it. Helpless, you pick it up but it’s the cost of the phone that runs through your mind. If only the he knew what he was playing with?

The child’s mind is a plain field. Open and ready to be filled, by discoveries made through the use of his senses. Since mostly what children do is to eat and play, their mode of verification of the discoveries made are:

Mouthing- everything the child holds goes into the mouth to determine if it is food or not, soft or hard etc. this is one reason as a parent you keep shouting “ no, don’t put that in your mouth”. You will notice that there are items your child never puts in his mouth twice… yeah, that’s because he has had a learning experience. However, we must ensure we keep germs away.

Play- for the child anything not serious enough to be eaten naturally falls into the play category. This is where they discover sounds by throwing things on the floor and trying to make a rhythm of the sound by  repeatedly hitting the object against a surface.  You would have observed the look on their faces when they do this. They are happy for what they have discovered.

Notice also, that your child’s motor activities are developing so; he grasps everything he sees…. Everything within the environment becomes his toys …maybe tools for learning.

His attraction to colours and sounds feed his curiosity this is why your phones, tablets and objects that posses sounds, colours or any fascinating features will always form part of his toys.  

The action plan for parents therefore would be to play along with the children in their quest to discover! Make learning of their normal play time. Invest time in their play routine to guide their exploring. Surround them with play items that induce learning… children can learn the alphabets at play time.

Yeah… it’s its play time for Him and work time for you…. Your tools, his toys…Enjoy it!