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.
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.
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!