Sometimes nurturing means leaving them alone

I've been busy with a project the last few days (more on that another day) but because of that the kids have had more time amongst themselves.  Part of that means more electronic entertainment than usual (TV, Wii, DSi, Leapster, iPhone, etc.), which I don't necessarily like.  Eventually, it's my job to shut off the machines that go Ping! and force them, through their tears and gnashing teeth to GO PLAY.

Miraculously, if I stick to my guns and refuse them their drugs of choice, they do!  There is nothing that makes my heart swell like seeing them using their imaginations and playing.  Granted, they usually play individually, probably due to the 3 year age difference between each of them (8.5/5.5/3.0).  That, plus an oldest who doesn't like to engage in group activities with little ones who mess up his grand ideas.  I think if Jack was a girl who loved to mother, it would be a different dynamic.  But this is the dynamic we've got, and it has it's own blessings too.

So here I sit, ignoring them and lo and behold, what do we have?

Molly just handed me a 'flower' she made by taping a carefully crumpled drawing to a pencil stick. 

Ben is singing to himself in the bathroom mirror while trying on various headwear; first his Iron Man helmet, and now a pair of light-up goggles.

Jack is building a wall of home furnishings (with a faux-plexiglass window) as a safety zone so he can thoroughly test the properties of various household materials in response to being shot with bullets from his new Nerf gun (more on that earth shattering purchase later).  Simultaneously he is developing a remote firing mechanism for the gun, so he can be safely ensconsed behind the safety wall when the tests occur.

I'm sure it will all end in a screaming, crying mess with "he touched my toy!" and "she's bothering me!" and "Ben pooped - he stinks!" but for right now, I'm enjoying the peace that comes from full scale deployment of children's imagination.

I'll deal with the mess later.