A stick and a rock.

I love that my son doesn't need flashy toys or expensive technology to be creative!

Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous outside, so we headed to the park for about two hours in the afternoon. The park in Trussville is really cool; three separate playgrounds with a surplus of slides and swings, climbing structures, etc. What did my kid want to do? Well, he ran around the perimeter track, chasing leaves in the wind, until he found a suitable stick and a rock. And he didn't let go of either. Who needs fancy playground equipment when you have a stick and rock?

I have sort of a love/hate relationship with technology. While I don't know how I ever lived without my iPhone, I refuse to use it much around Liam, and I don't let him play with it, either. It just feels like this villain that tries to attack my quality family time, and I don't want to teach my son to be glued to the phone when he's older. So I'm overjoyed when I see my son using his imagination to turn a boring old stick into a sword, a broom, a walking cane, and whatever else he was using it for that I couldn't figure out. 

That beloved stick brought out a mama bear moment in me, by the way. At one point I watched as an older boy grabbed Liam's stick right out of his hand and replace it with the boy's pitiful little twig he was playing with. Liam handled it like a champ; he just accepted the twig as his new toy, but some protective instinct came out of me. 

I looked at my friend (and new mom!) and said (very loudly, where the boy could hear me), "Did you see that kid take Liam's stick?" 

That caught the boy by surprise, and he looked at me. I said to him, "Well, that wasn't nice. Are you going to give it back?" 

Well, I must have scared him, and luckily his mom was already in the car getting ready for them to leave, so he ran off, stick in hand, to the car. That was probably best. I couldn't believe that came out of my mouth! Maybe I should have taken my cue from Liam and just let it go, or maybe it was the pregnancy that had removed my filtering system. Or maybe, as a mom, I wanted to use the opportunity to teach another kid proper playground manners. I'm usually quick to encourage Liam to get over it when someone acts in an unfair way toward him, but I was defending him before I even knew what was happening!

Have you ever had a mama bear moment like that? I'd love to know I'm not crazy!