My sweet hubby came from the era of "imagination" play, you know, before technology took over! I'm just kidding, he's not even 40 yet, but he was one of those little boys that was outside playing on Saturday morning long before most people were coherent and vertical. From the moment his little footed pajama's hit the ground, he was already thinking of what he was going to build, shoot, or play that day.
It was not uncommon for him to spend every minute of daylight outside shooting bb guns, fishing, riding his bike, starting a pick up baseball game with his neighborhood buddies, or building what else... a fort. There was none of this sitting in front of the computer for hours on end, or playing Wii all day (even if it is Wii Fit), certainly not watching Barney over and over again. If he was up, he was out!
His mom and I have often laughed about the fact that he lived in a life jacket his entire childhood because he grew up on the lake and he was always outside playing. Therefore, to ease her mind, that was the trade off. I realized this (and got a lot of laughs out of it) when we got married and were looking through old pictures to put in our wedding video and in nearly every picture, he had a life jacket on!
Now, you see kids riding bikes everyday decked out in the latest helmet, elbow and knee pads... no, Jimmy was on his little BMX sporting a life preserver! I think they still have the nasty old thing... memories you just can't throw away. Now that I'm the "mom" and we live on the creek, I can already envision T running around the yard with his on (sorry son)... funny how that happens isn't it?
So while I was doing my Christmas shopping at Learning Express Toys (LOVE that store) I found a Build-A-Fort kit that comes with 2 camouflage pieces of fabric, rope for setting up the fort, 6 giant clips, 6 suction cups, and 2 glow wands (no fort would be complete without a glow wand you know). I put it under the tree with Trace and Jimmy's name on it. I just knew it would bring smiles to my 2 kiddos faces on Christmas morning.
Ohhh, pictures can be so deceiving!Ours looked NOTHING like the one on the box...but do they ever?
Now, this was bought partially for selfish reasons, because back in the "good ole days" before things like Build-A-Fort kits, kids used what else... mom's sheets and blankets to create their great hideaways. Let's be honest, once the fort had lost it's luster and appeal, who would be responsible for cleaning, folding, and putting away all of these linens... me, myself, and I.
Jimmy informed me in the process of building our fort the other night that you really need bed linens, broomsticks, boxes, and books (the 4 b's) to make the ideal fort. But we drudged ahead using the $25 "cheater kit" I purchased for Christmas... ho ho ho!
We started out in the bonus room, but quickly realized there wasn't enough furniture in there to tie everything to. So we moved it to Trace's room. We used his bed, dresser, and bookcase to anchor the sides since the "large" fabric pieces they claimed on the box were really about the size of his crib mattress sheet and the "giant" suction cups wouldn't stick to the walls, wood, or window. The ropes they included were not long enough to actually use for much, but hey... at least the glow sticks worked! As it turns out, our "fort" was more like a tarp strung pitifully between Trace's bed and bookcase with no sides, back or flap for a door.
While I'm sure it was quite a let down for my dear husband, luckily it was quite sufficient for a 2-year-old who now likes to read his bedtime stories under his tarp and went to bed that night with his little yellow glow stick clutched in his hand.
This just proves once again that some things are better left alone, and that $25 might buy you a nice "kit" but to really build a fort, you must stick to the oldies but goodies... the 4 b's.
A congratulatory hug for Daddy for all of his hard work!
**Just a side note** Being the paranoid, obsessive compulsive mother that I am, I had to go untie the string that attached to T's crib while he slept (of course, making the fort/tarp cave in on one side) for fear that in the middle of the night, he might, by chance, wake up, reach for the string, flip head first out of his bed and hang himself on the rope. I know... I have problems.
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