The Fall of the Castle

The value of a construction is only equal to its ability to withstand all forms of disaster. However, the value of a cup castle is determined by how quickly it falls and how far the cups fly.

By Nightlight

Over the last few months, She and I have been under the impression that He is sneaking out of His bed at night to play with toys, wander around in His dark room, and generally revolt against sleep. We have come to this conclusion for two reasons: First, every now and again We hear rustling; second, He has told us that He does so. This has lead Us to two conclusions: The age at which they tell on themselves is truly one to relish in, and we must try to stop His cunning escapes sooner than later. In an attempt to deter His late night adventures, We try to keep an open ear to His room and stop it right when it starts, but sometimes, as I recently discovered, it's difficult to get upset. I heard clanking a few night back and, well aware of His obsession with screwdrivers and the like, I opened the door to His room and found Him in the corner, huddled by His nightlight with a pile of batteries, a few opened toys, and the makings of His circuit board set. I was stuck between lecturing Him for getting out of bed and being completely amazed at His set up. I managed to stay on track, to explain to Him that He should not get out of bed at night, and to tuck Him in once again before confiscating the goods. Regardless, I closed the door behind me not only impressed at what He had done, but impressed by the fact that He Had gathered and arranged His findings only minutes after We had left the room.

Broom and Dustpan

This collaged creation was done by Him, in the silence of His room at His little white art table. Without any prompting, He created a broom, complete with dustpan attachment, intended, as We found out, to match the one in Our laundry room. The white bar on the handle of the broom, he explained, acts as a holder for the dustpan so it doesn't fall off. Imperfect, impractical and a bit of an odd creation for a child? Yes. Amazing, hysterical, and tremendously ingenious? Absolutely.

Valentines Day

This was the first year that He had a moderate understanding of Valentines Day and it was also the first year He experienced it in a school setting. Naturally, this experience extends homeward as each child is responsible for bringing one Valentine per classmate. Being the artsy, creative girl that She is, She decided it would be fun to make them. At first, for simplicity's sake, I protested, but She was persistent and, eventually, convinced Me it would be great. Agreeing that She would head up the creation, She set off, gathered supplies, and set to work one night with Him at Her side and Myself as the audience. The plan was 20 red hearts with eyes, and a mouth and a message, written by Him, on the back. I will spare complete details, but it must be known that after two botched hearts (all meticulously cut by hand), and only six on their way to completion in 30 minutes, a box of generic cartoon characters seemed more and more appealing to Her. However, She is not one to quit and, with great patience and 3 or 4 separate sessions, the Valentines were complete and, in the opinion of the audience, worth the time.