25 Comments
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Melissa Mowry's avatar

This is so important and our kids are certainly our best teachers in this area. We should all strive to be more like them, paying good attention to the smallest details of life.

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Katie Selina's avatar

Kids are incredible teachers in so many ways! It’s rather humbling. ❤️

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Nina P.'s avatar

My mom is German and she used to call my youngest son "The Trödler"--a dawdler/slow poke. To this day, he's always the last one in the car when the family is going somewhere. Some people just know how to take their time. :o)

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Katie Selina's avatar

This will 100% be my boy. Trödler for life. 😂❤️

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Corinne Dews's avatar

Totally agree! I'm the 66 year old going on 4, who throws sycamore keys, ie helicopters, up in the church car park. 😁 They're only around for a few weeks each year, so 'it's the law' that they have to be played with!

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Katie Selina's avatar

Yes, totally the law! I think the same about snapdragon flowers. It’s illegal to go past them and not give them a little “snap”. 🥰

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Catherine The Middle Aged's avatar

To dilly-dally... what a brilliant phrase it is.... and a vital part of being human too I think 💖 Thank you for sharing this with us and for reminding us just how lovely a thing it is to do 💖

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Katie Selina's avatar

Thank you for reading and taking the time to leave a comment Catherine! ❤️

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Teresa Goering's avatar

So beautifully written

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Katie Selina's avatar

Thank you so much, Teresa. That truly means the world to me. ❤️

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katie morley's avatar

One of my favourite EVER TikTok's is all about dilly-dallying (I'll try and find the link - but I quote it about three times a day 😂). Dilly-dallying is THE forgotten art, and one I am always front seat for. Letting go of productivity guilt to appreciate those “helicopter seeds” and “chains of ants” is such a beautiful way to reclaim joy and simplify and slow down your life — loved this post. Something we all need to remind ourselves of more often.

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Katie Selina's avatar

Thank you so much, Katie. 🥰 And please do share the TikTok! I wanna see it now!!

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Hayley's avatar

Love it Katie. Such a beautiful and gentle reminder. Thank you. ❤️

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Katie Selina's avatar

Thank you back at ya! 🙏🏻🥰

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Jessica Alice's avatar

YES! I'm not a parent, but very interested in Waldorf education and a big advocate of Kim John Payne's 'Simplicity Parenting.' I also wrote about savouring the present moment here: https://neurodivergentnotes.substack.com/p/savour

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Katie Selina's avatar

Simplicity Parenting was one of the books I referred to! Such a good one. 😊

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Jessica Alice's avatar

I'm evangelistic about it 😄 when I say to my husband, “I’m going to bang on about that book again…” he knows which one I'm referring to!

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Stephanie Elizabeth's avatar

Dilly-dallying as I read this Katie, lying in bed listening to the rain drops and birds singing outside. Later I'll dilly-dally around the kitchen and frolick out to the garden to lovingly gaze at all that has grown overnight. A delightful read, as always. 💛 from one dilly-dallier to another x

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Amy's avatar

This is wonderful. My husband and I often say that slowing down and spending time in nature are the most subversive acts in the modern world. I worked in early years education for many years and I honestly think the kids taught me more than I them. You are creating a marvellous environment for your son :0)

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Kate Selner's avatar

I make it a point to talk my 2-year old granddaughter outside every day I can to walk along our street and examine everything she finds interesting. We dilly-dally a lot on these walks, and I point out acorn hats, the different leaf shapes, "oh no, a bug!!" she'll call out, and then we examine the bug and sometimes she just stomps on them because she's two. We check the mail, pick up pine cones, look for the plane overhead, step aside for cars going by, point out the squirrels and crows, kick through the leaf piles and throw them in the air ... you name it. I want her to know her surroundings and find joy in them, and inevitably, these dilly-dallying walks will induce in her a nap slumber sound and deep. They benefit us both in many ways.

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Jenny's avatar

A beautiful reminder, thank you!

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Louise Ballantine's avatar

I look after my 14 month granddaughter every morning and everything takes so long. I'm going to appreciate her dilly-dallying in a new light.

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Catherine's avatar

As a lifelong daydreamer, I love a good dilly dally! I also loved reading this and it sounds like you're raising a brilliant small person Katie 💚

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J Callender Photography's avatar

I think we have the choice of either seeing an abundance of ideas to explore or a scarcity of time to do any single one of them.

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