The great Lego project
I'm living in Lego Land. A sudden burst of organizing energy has us building, rebuilding, and cataloging all the Lego sets we have. It wouldn't be so many except that in addition to Calvin's, we have sets from Jon's childhood, my childhood, and others, like Curtis's and Gretchen's, so that our oldest set is from over forty years ago, and our newest from just one. And what began as a search for a single piece that was missing from a single set, or at least a replacement for it, became a exercise that closely resembled an archeological dig.
Calvin's sets, the newest of the bunch, were identifiable and accompanied by instructions and piece inventories, but the blocks from earlier childhoods had long been combined and tossed about, all memory of their original form having been lost to the ages. Tapping nostalgia and the internet we were able to identify certain parts and locate images, brick lists, and instructions.
It's been a whole family project, including grandparents. It's been a trip down memory lane. We printed, we sorted, we assembled. We disassembled and reassembled. Several times, just for fun. In the end we'd compiled a list of sets we have, inventoried the pieces and made a list of those that were missing, and put all the instructions in a binder for easy access. We labeled zip lock bags for the keeping of sets when not in use, although right now there isn't even one in storage, they're all decorating surfaces throughout the house.
There was a time, probably even just months ago, when an immersion of this kind would have left me uneasy. We'd been traipsing through ancient Egypt, with other ancient civilizations on the horizon, and I would have seen the Lego project as just a small break in a days activity, never been willing to spend whole days on it. But Calvin was keen on diving into it with every ounce of energy, eager to catalog, inventory, research, build, play, un-build, rebuild. I couldn't possibly curb that kind of energy, and in what was probably my first true unschooling act, I easily found the lessons in the one activity Calvin desired to do, in the identifying, the categorizing, the labeling, the building, and especially in the playing. Especially in the playing.
And as with all life lessons this one let us know when its course had been run. So we've come to the end of the project, but Calvin, and the rest of us by extension, is still living in Lego Land. We'll reap the benefits of our researching and organizing for many years to come.
Three childhoods worth of Legos.
birthday parties
We attended our first birthday party today. Our first birthday party of Calvin's childhood years, the kind that, at this age, means both parent and child attendance. Twenty-four children and the adults that went with them, and Calvin was one of only two boys. The kids made cat ear headbands, then ran wild in the basement before consuming fruit, veggies, hotdogs, and cake as a prelude to present opening that took half the time it could have, and twice the time it should have.
Calvin said he had fun, and I'm pretty sure he enjoyed the cat ear making, but it was clear to me after the first thirty minutes why we have yet to throw a party of this kind in our own home. In particular, something about the scads of presents that go largely unnoticed makes my stomach turn. Calvin told me in the car, and then Jon later, that his feelings had been hurt when the birthday girl had taken no notice of the gift he gave her. It opened the floor for a heart felt discussion about showing gratitude, and about doing our best for others but being our own best fans and not worrying about others' assessments of us. Still, it always breaks my heart when he is sad.
After we talked more about the party—Calvin liked the cake and loved the ears—we asked him what kind of party he thought he'd like to have for himself this year, a party with family, like we've had in the past, or a party with friends? "Definitely a friends party," he told us, and when asked what friends he would like to invite he replied "Oh, gram and grandpa, and Oma and Opa, of course, and Aunt Wendy and Uncle Jack. Just like our Easter party. That was a good party."
As Calvin meets more kids in our community and makes more friends closer to his own age I know that answer will change. Maybe that will even happen this year. I'm actually looking forward to throwing a child's birthday party some day, a reasonable number of children playing games and creating take-home crafts and eating cake and ice cream, but for now I'll just enjoy the sheer adorable-ness of that answer and all that it means.
Artistic Friday
Our day started with sunshine, orange juice, coffee for me, and a few notes on Tutankhamun for Calvin. I discovered this sight long after I'd had enough coffee to wake me up and get me started.
We are still working on our mummy cases. This is turning into a two week project, mostly due to our lack of extra time, but we're having a good time with it.
We've been talking lately about categorizing the world from a scientific standpoint, so today we went outside with our sketch pads to find the symmetry in living things, and the lack thereof in non-living natural or human-made things. It was fun from both a scientific and an artistic standpoint.
And the rest of the day was spent at HAA practicing for Calvin's next play (The Wizard of Oz!) and creating oil pastel paintings, then back at home rather carefully organizing the Legos, which are still spread all over the front room because organization takes time, and messes often get worse before they get better. That's one of the fun parts of life.
We're linked up to Saturday's Artist.
art, arts & crafts, egypt, science Is it really Wednesday already?
I'm having some trouble keeping up. We had the book sale on Saturday, and a spring party for fourteen at our house on Sunday. Monday I have no excuses, but Tuesday we played with friends all morning and took the dogs to the vet in the afternoon. So I haven't been typing, but we have been busy. Very busy.
Calvin passed his beginner swimming class a couple of weeks ago and moved up to the gliders class, which means that he is now swimming multiple laps of the entire width of pool during every class. He's doing great, and he now comes home very tired.
Calvin is reading The Cricket in Times Square. He's about half way through and really enjoying it. So far we've made a cricket, assembled a cricket cage, and gone out for a Chinese lunch.
Our mummy project is moving forward steadily, one step at a time. We're making mummy cases with mummies to go inside, and we should be done by the end of the week, depending on how many coats of decorative paint we add.
And as of today we're caught up on laundry, the birds are fed, and the Legos have once again taken over the front room.
Iris would like her floor back.