Things like Flair pens, folders, glue sticks were purchased when we took a trip to Target for back-to-school supplies this morning. But the thing the kids were most excited about were their new coloring books. (Isabelle purchased hers with her own money so that felt like a win to me!) In fact, it got really quiet when we returned home from Target since the kids disappeared into the playroom. I went in search of them. Moments later, I discovered them sitting side by side at the craft table with coloring books and a new box of 64 crayons. (Speaking of crayons, Isabelle thinks the sharpener that comes on the back of Crayola’s 64-count box is awesome. I told her they even had the sharpener when I was a kid. Her mind was blown. Apparently, she didn’t think that kind of technology would’ve existed in the 1980s!)
“Whatcha doing?” I asked.
“Coloring,” Isabelle and Ari responded simultaneously.
“Do you need me?”
“Nope,” Ari replied.
“Okay, I’m going to go and eat some lunch since I have a medical appointment that I have to leave for in a half-hour.”
“Okay!” Ari replied.
As I prepared my lunch, I overheard the kids talking. But they weren’t having a conversation. I listened closely. Isabelle was reading the directions on the activity pages of Ari’s new coloring book aloud to him. He was counting (e.g., the spots on a dog, the bubbles in a bubble bath) and then asking Isabelle for confirmation. She’d tell him, “Right!” or “Try again!” Then, as soon as the answer was correct, she’d tell him to “write that down.”
I smiled, came up behind them, and shot a couple of videos. Then, grateful to have a “teaching assistant,” I returned to the kitchen where I ate my lunch in peace while they worked together.
Raising Literate Humans 
Such a win all around! I love how Isabelle and Ari care for each other so much and Isabelle is so helpful with Ari. The picture is adorable. And so great that you had a lunch in peace! Hope your appointment went well.
What a beautiful sister/brother moment you captured here! Listening in on our own children is one of the privileges we have a parents and is sure can be heart warming, that’s for sure! Nothing like a good trip to Target and a lunch in peace! Thanks for sharing!
These are the moments, aren’t they? And somehow that crayon sharpener is the perfect coda to the allergy shot story from last week.
Indeed it is!
How great is that? Even now that my kids are both grown up, I love to watch them interacting. Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
Win-win! Your teaching assistant did good work today!
What a beautiful scene you’ve painted here. I maybe got a little bit nervous to hear about the sudden quiet when the kids got home (I know the “fun” that can occur just when things get quiet), and then I smiled to read that they were enjoying their coloring books and one another’s company. The coloring book time, the camaraderie, the peaceful lunch. These are ALL wins in my (coloring) book!
Oh, I’m always nervous when it gets quiet… because you never know!
Lovely slice! Isn’t it great when children teach each other? I’ve found that much of the time they are very, very good teachers, indeed!
Such a beautiful moment to capture — The sibling magic and the quiet lunch!