in which the kids and i visit Kid Mecca

Posted on November 10, 2009 - Filed Under adventures, kiddo life | 4 Comments

That’s right, we made the trek into the next city to go here [cue holy music]:

Kid Mecca, otherwise known as Toys R Us, in which the aisles of toys extend into infinity, until they collapse into a toy singularity of impossible density, packaging, and expense.

And in which all these miraculous toys are lit with shoddy [...]

the puzzle of death

Posted on November 4, 2009 - Filed Under kiddo life | Leave a Comment

Luc, who just turned four (!!!), loves jigsaw puzzles. This is not a casual fling, but a full on appreciation and commitment to daily puzzling. That’s right, he does several puzzles a day, and then likes to make puzzles of the puzzles by fitting completed puzzles together, filling the entire available floor space with them. [...]

cool felt picture fun for kiddos

Posted on February 19, 2009 - Filed Under making things | 1 Comment

Kids dig crafts. Want to hear that engrossed silence of kids making stuff? Here’s a quick and dirty project:
Get a stack of felt squares from a craft store and a bunch of scissors. Designate a few of the felts ‘backgrounds.’ You might be able to get a few stiff pieces for this. Set the kids [...]

diggers watch tv, too

Posted on December 5, 2008 - Filed Under kiddo life | Leave a Comment

Luc is enthralled with big machines. Bull dozers, backhoes, excavators, trenchers, dump trucks—driving past a construction site these days causes the backseat to erupt into squeals of “It’s a crane! Mommy, a digger! Mommy, Mommy, a front loader!” A couple of weeks ago, I ran across an ad for a construction site video for kids, [...]

toys that never stop

Posted on August 21, 2008 - Filed Under kiddo life | 3 Comments

stacking cups silks varialand blocks barbies paper scissors tape glue crayons colored pencils

remains of the play

Posted on August 9, 2008 - Filed Under kiddo life, making things | 1 Comment

There is a benefit to not cleaning everything up right away. The kids do their thing, play their games, and move on to another location, leaving these cool tableaus behind. Usually I know what they are about, but if I’ve been focused on something else, I might come across little scenes that are a complete [...]