Archive for the ‘good’ Tag
January 19 2012
The Incredible Hulk. Spiderman. Iron Man. Captain America. Wolverine.
I have a 5 year old boy who wants to be a superhero.
He spends his days hulk smashing and climbing invisible spiderwebs in an effort to save the world. People in his pictures are colored green, blue, and red. In the bath, he’ll take his shampoo-lathered hair and stretch it into Wolverine-inspired side horns. Over the years, he has acquired a collection of super alter egos, each with it’s own distinctive look and plastic freeze-framed mask to match. He changes in and out with the speed of Superman. His imagination is nothing if not wild.
Even when it shouldn’t be.
“Put the Incredible Hulk on for bed”, Buzz insisted within moments of turning the sheets down for the night, his feet fighting for footing in the green and purple faux-muscled fabric disguise.
“No, we’re not wearing that to bed. You know you need to wear your pajamas”, I told him. Because even superheroes take off their mask for a good night of rest. My pleas were only met with encouragement, however, as his little sister helped fasten the closures in the back. The trusty sidekick.
Suffice to say, he wore the Incredible Hulk to bed. And the world slept a little safer.
But at least he took off the mask.
January 17 2012
Taking advantage of the wet powder sheeting the ground before it disappeared in the following day’s spring-like forecast, I promised my kids some time to play in the remaining snow. Within our advancing initial steps, we bent down to grab a handful and set our sights on any nearby target. The first shot in the friendly winter war.
I had only a single rule to follow: Don’t hit anyone in the face.
With each tag and a mark of evident precipitation left in its place, a telltale hit. Traipsing through the snow, a cast of footprints trailing behind. It was mayhem of flying snow and flinging laughter. It didn’t take long, however. As then, I breached my own command. Admittedly, a striking lucky shot.
Bam! Oops. A smashed snowball square at Jedi’s face.
His eyes froze shut for a brief moment before he turned to me, cold crystals clinging to his lashes. I was ready to apologize, concealing my amused surprised, instead prepared to deal with the ridiculous fallout. To wipe the snow away from his wet cheeks. But then he laughed, the greatest kind of laugh. Infectious as it was. And so did I.
“Revenge!”, Jedi declared as he rose, scooping more snow into a compact mound. Believe me, he got it.
Apologies were still said, though unnecessary. Because accidents happen. Even moreover, sometimes rules are supposed to be broken. Especially when they’re your own. It’s when an act of fun can reign profound. In that moment, it proved to be a very good kind of oops.
January 10 2012
It’s been a few weeks since Christmas now, and all the toys my kids received have lost their novelty. For this year, I made it a mission to gift items that held a purpose, rather than, say, a Captain America action figure that would just be thrown in a drawer to be forgotten. As always, however, some were more of a hit than others.
These are the top toys from Christmas ’11 that haven’t been a waste of money:
1. Play-Doh Fun Factory Deluxe Set: Santa must have been high on candy canes this Christmas when he decided to leave this play-doh set under the tree for Buzz. With the constantly picking beads of doh out of my carpet since, and fighting a losing battle in my obsessive compulsion to keep the colors separated. This isn’t about me, though.
2. Abby & Emma Magnetic Dress-Up: Big, chunky pieces with a lot of options. It keeps my little fashion star’s attention for awhile as she mixes and matches the outfits. It’s something I would have loved as a kid.
3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: This was a last minute addition to Jedi’s stocking. I’ve bought him other chapter books in the past that he never so much as glanced at. This one, however, a book with over 200 pages, he finished in 4 days.
4. LEGO Duplo Building Set: Buzz loves LEGOs. I bought him a few sets of the regular LEGOs, but he’s not quite at the level to put them together by himself yet. The Duplos are just right for him. And it comes with a playmat that can be zipped together into a bin for additional storage. Anything that comes with its own storage is a good idea.
5. AquaDoodle: Christmas night, I set this up and watched as all 3 of my children sat together and played with it. Taking turns. Together. It was amazing.
6. Hungry Hungry Hippos: I remember this game from my youth being really loud. There’s enough noise in my house as it is, so I was hesitant. But turns out, it’s a really great game for all of us. It’s straightforward and easy enough for Buzz and Abby, but competitive for Jedi. Now, the only thing we need to work on is the sore losing attitude.
November 22 2011
“Here, puppy, come on!”, my daughter called for her stuffed animal. When the immobile toy didn’t follow as intended, she swooped over to pick it up. Then, nuzzled its white cotton fur against her cheek lovingly.
“Puppy needs food”, she declared.
“What kind of food does it want?”, I asked.
“Puppy food!”, she replied. Of course. So I looked around to see if there was anything available to feed her stuffed animal, settling on pretending to pour some beans from a decorative jar. But an animal can’t live on food alone, even one that’s not real, thus it needed water, as well.
When her puppy was fully nourished, we headed out to pick the boys up from the bus stop. She carried her cozy friend along the way way, first jammed in her pocket, then setting it on the ground to feel the grass on its feet. Because puppies, they want the semblance of freedom. Abby even took it for an assisted walk, before she was afraid it would get too cold.
“Puppy needs gloves, too”, she stated, looking at the mittens already on her hands.
“Your puppy has fur. That keeps it warm”, I informed, an explanation that seemed to satisfy her enough. Though she held it tight next to her, against her heavy winter coat, as an extra layer of protection. Then she praised, “He’s a good puppy”.
She was really cute with her puppy.
So cute that I didn’t have the heart to tell her that her puppy is really a lamb.
November 01 2011
I took an arm, and Jedi chose a leg.
It was a duel.
Like a clumsy dance we moved, clanking our weapons courtesy of a plastic skeleton. I practiced my rookie poses that I obtained from a very limited view of fencing while my oldest son held a firm blocking stance. Even the dearly departed replica skull got into the action, converting into a magical amulet that could defeat all.
With a bout of laughter, Buzz picked up the other leg bone, and Abby the second arm. They had teamed together with 3 against 1, an odds I’m used to. Except now, I possessed a metal pan lid for armor.
There were things I had to do, and I’ll be lying if I said I wasn’t running down the list while we were playing. The laundry needed switched, dishes washed, toys picked up. Same ol’, same ol’ that I worry myself with every day. In truth, it can all wait until tomorrow. Some days, we just need to use our imaginations and play. It’s amazing how included kids can get with a simple game of clanking bones.
“Can we do this again later?”, Jedi asked when we were done. “That was fun.”
Of course we can.
At first, I didn’t know what to do with the bag of skeleton bones that were meant as decoration for Halloween. I never would have thought of sword fighting on my own, but it was a rather brilliant idea.
