An Ode to Lego

You're colorful spread,
you're sizes and shape;
have often turned my sons' rooms into
a jumbled landscape.

A block with two bumps;
so innocent and small,
the simplicity and enticement
bring out the creativity of all.

Your defence mechanism is truly
effective,
for shooting pain in my foot,
makes my stepping selective.

Hours of silence,
creativity and fun,
you have managed to do,
what nothing else had done.

Gotta love Legos.

Lighting Up

Have you ever had the joy of a glow stick?

When you get them.. they're straight, stiff and perfect. They also don't do much... maybe you could use if for a back scratcher.

To make the glow stick fun ... it has to be flexible.

You have to bend it ... alot. Breaking the glass inside to release the chemicals that make it light up, means bending and shaking... loads of fun.

Now you can make all kinds of things with your glow stick... let your imagination fly.

I realized... schooling my kids is like that. I get them all straight and perfect ... but they don't have much to offer. Schooling takes bending, shaking and a little breaking... then they light up.

All kinds of possibilities for their future come clear to them. I see their imagination, creativity and understanding come to light.

Plus.. they're way more fun.

Let them glow!!!

Never Leave Nails Unsupervised

When I was busy using the chop saw to cut the rotten parts out of my pile of old barn wood, my sons and some neighbour hood friends... became inspired and ... well... carpentry broke out. I gave them our two hammers and a handful of nails and went back to work. That's where I went wrong. I was feeling so good about the fact that they were conducting their own shop class in the summer, and they were being creative ... industrious ... physical ... and nothing electric was involved. Right proud of my kids.
I went inside ... the boys kept working... hours later while cleaning the bathroom I realized I STILL heard hammers pounding and the math clicked in.... I didn't give them THAT many nails.
Apparently .. they took note of where I got the nails from and helped themselves to more....

Now we have a raft that would do well to stay away from magnets. There are upwards of ten nails in each board in someplaces. Many of the nails don't even attach one board to another... there are 3 different species of nails and even one attempt to nail in a screw.

BUT ... if there was ever a flood my son has assured me.. "we'll be safe".
Posted by JungleGirl at 3:25 PM