Cardboard Box

I never knew all the things you could do with a cardboard box.  My children, as usual, have enlightened me.

We, the boring, think that an empty kleenex box should go into the recycling bin.  Unless of course you are making an old-school gingerbread house at Christmastime.  You know, instead of buying the handy dandy kit.

Children don't think this way.

Babies look at them, bat at them, and often chew on them.  They play with them for hours making all parents wonder why on earth they spent money on toys.

Young boys destroy them.  This is how they think:  "A cardboard box?!  What a perfect thing to drop-kick!"  Actually, I am giving them too much credit.  Young boys don't really think those words, they act on total impulse which goes from an instant flash of "cardboard box!" to a look of glee and a swift and powerful swing of the leg.  All boys watching are instantly sucked into this sea of flowing testosterone and want nothing more than to release the power they feel twitching in their own leg, longing to set this cardboard box sailing through the living room again.  Larger cardboard boxes make nice backdrops for shooting with your bow and arrow.  Box lids make nice pallets for setting off small fireworks in the backyard.  Huge boxes, of course, are meant for hiding.

Young girls collect them.  Wanna know how many cardboard boxes are in my daughter's room?  Twelve.  many of which are empty shoe boxes of varying sizes.  Storage for her markers.  And little dolls.  And her little dolls pets.  And all the junk that doesn't have a category.   They are bedrooms for barbies.  Or flipped upside down and made into a lovely dinner table covered in paper food.  And a few crammed under the bed, "just in case."

If you're a parent, I think you know exactly what I mean.

Problem of the Ages

I'm in the middle.

I've come to that conclusion, because there's no other way to describe it.  I'm just in the middle and don't really know which way to go.  It's my kids' fault.  Well, mine really.  And life's fault.  There...at least I've placed blame, now I can investigate.

I am mother to some "youngers" and some "olders," and sometimes I just don't know what to do with that. Miss Queen of the Castle - the one who rules all things - the baby - has an awful lot of demands.  Like food.  And diaper changing.  And still two naps a day.  She wants to play with everything in sight and yet we have the responsibility of keeping her alive with all four limbs intact, so therefore we have to keep out of reach 60% of all household items.  And from climbing atop almost all household surfaces.

The other younger is easy - at age 5 this one is really a "middle", and goes along with anything.  Will play with the baby, will play with the olders.  Still can't reach the kitchen sink and therefore can't do the dishes (inconvenient).  But still young enough to climb up in our laps to cuddle and give some really cute hugs and kisses.  Very adaptable.

The olders need a lot more stimulating entertainment.  Like swimming, or fireworks, or water gun fights.  Like neighborhood kickball games, movies, and restaurants.  Or things with a bazillion tiny pieces like barbie shoes, or legos, or 500 piece puzzles.  True, they're not that old, it's not like they are teenagers yet, where they just sit around and talk. Or mope.  But they are still older, where baby toys last about 2 minutes.

So what do we do with ourselves?  I feel so in the middle.  I don't know if friends with olders want to hang out, because then we have to accommodate a napping baby.  I don't know if friends with babies want to hang out, because then what do we do with a 10 year old?  And how on earth do we vacation?  Where do we go that suits all ages? And then there's my age.  I'm not really a young adult.  I'm not really over the hill yet either.  

I'm not a complainer by nature.  I'm not even unhappy in this place in life, just a little confused sitting here in the middle.  I haven't come up with an answer.  I have come up with a prayer though - of asking for direction.  And of thanksgiving for my family.  I love them to pieces and would never wish any of this away.  I feel blessed to have a little cutie pie toddling around the house again - it's the kind of thing that passes too quickly with children.  Where suddenly you blink and they're 10.  I love painting toenails with my older and rocking at bedtime with my baby.  I love all the in-betweens.  And that's all that matters I guess.

Girls...

Okay, okay.  It's been like 2 years since I've posted on my blog.  I've been busy with the pregnancy and 1st year of our new little girl.  "How perfect!" everyone says, "Two of each!"  Yes, two very boy-ish boys and two very girl-ish girls.  I am constantly amazed by the differences in these creatures - God made man, God made woman.  And they are, without a doubt, different.

Quite a while ago I posted about boys.  That post involved a lot of things being destroyed in my house, or various objects being flung about.  This post is nothing like that.  It's about girls.

This spring, my 10-year old daughter and her friends have been creating a Barbie-land in her room.  Many hours go into building this imaginary place, which involves every square inch of her room, and a bazillion dolls of various natures - from Barbies to Lego Girls, Squinkies and beyond.

I started noticing this Land of Milk and Girly-Honey when I'd ask her if her room was clean.  It really was neat and tidy - but every edging along her wall, every last book shelf, every inch of her desk hutch, every closet shelf, nook, cranny, and corner was smothered in Barbie Land.  It was so adorable I asked the girls for a video tour and took some pictures.  Here's some of the highlights:

Barbie attending Mass.  Fittingly, Jesus is the celebrating Priest.

The men...watching Brave on "TV".  Beautiful garden terrace just outside their living room. Dreamy.

The kid's room, jewelry box bed.. (Notice the woven rug made in home school art class this year.  They had an excellent teacher.) (Also note the headless dolls in the back ground ???) Lower level, the bandstand.

There were Barbies working at Denny's Restaurant in one corner, and being hospitalized in another (where, by the way, several were having babies). There were babies wrapped in Kleenex.  It was also very multi-cultural as one child proudly declared there were "dark-skinned" babies.  There were stables set up for the horses, swimming pools to jump in, and lots of bedding made of towels.

And there I am once again reminded of how girls tick.  They like to plan.  Prepare.  Accessorize.  Decorate.  Create.  Beautify.  And, of course, pretend.

But hey, they're girls.  It's all in the details.  It's nice to have little creatures in my house that I can relate to.