I went to elementary school today and tried cutting through the library (it is not a hall! Walk around! I know this, but…I was being lame). I am so glad I stepped inside, because it was filled with giant cardboard constructions. I LOOOOOVE making things out of big boxes. Alexander said (in recent times) that he would very much like to get a refrigerator box and trick it out like a terrific spaceship, then give it to some kid. I am quite certain that Benjamin would still just sit happily in a box, if we had one to fit him. Keith is endlessly patient with me saving big cardboards. He always asks if he should recycle something before he does it, (and I assume he knows I will say “not yet”) and I try to let them go, but really, I can’t. You just NEVER know when suddenly an idea is going to jump out and you will need a big cardboard.
Second only to giant cardboard, is lots of cardboard. I went through a phase where I really, really wanted to build a very large, complicated kitty house/maze/climby thing for Sophie and Colby. Alexander has a whole living room with nothing in it, and it seems the obvious answer. The problem is Alexaner is the kitty dad and I am only the gramma, so I do not get final say. Alexander does not want a giant kitty house/maze/climby thing because he wants the kitties to just sit on him for happiness. It is what they currently do, and there is no reason to change things up.
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We went to Taco John’s for Taco Tuesday tonight. Taco John’s is on the way to Alexander’s house, so we took him a not-a-taco-item and we ate together. I sat in the comfy chair after dinner and Colby immediately climbed on my lap and went to sleep. I definitely would not have liked if he and Soph had been hidden away in a kitty house/maze/climby thing, so Alexander made the right decision.
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I’m with you for large cardboard boxes. Young children love them. They make great castles, houses etc – even just for hiding in!
Now I am thinking about building a castle out of cardboard. Harlech castle, as a matter of fact!
How many times did your kids set a toy aside and play with the box? I love watching a box turn into a car and 5 minutes later turn into a turtle-like shell and then turn into something else. It’s the most magical toy on Earth.
I completely agree!