What do you think?

My son has a passion for string, for thread, for dental floss and for just about anything that can be stretched out and wound around in a trip-me-up fashion. One time, I came into my formal living room to discover that he had taken a carousel of thread and painstakingly gone around every single leg chair, sofa and table appendage in sight. He'd not stopped at one single circuit mind you, but done the whole carousel length's worth of the thread. It was a masterpiece of a web. How he managed to get it so intricate considering that he had to find his own way around in order to continue building, I do not know. Afterwards, he was thoughtful enough to bring me over and show me proudly what he'd accomplished.

That night, I waited until he'd fallen asleep to snip, snip and snip it all away. Though I couldn't bear to expose him to my destruction of his creation, that little episode taught me a valuable lesson: No more thread within his grubby-handed reach. Nevertheless he's quite a resourceful, not to mention observant, little boy. For instance, he noticed I would tie up the legs of whole chickens with cooking twine before putting them into the oven. When next I went to look for the twine, it was gone. At that time, I didn't put two and two together and just assumed I'd misplaced it in my drawers. But a few days after the spool went missing, R struck. On this occasion, I discovered a complicated construct around the toys in his bedroom. It was another spidery beauty with the unfortunate side effect of ruining my cooking twine. As I write, I'm mentally groaning at the nuisance his threading fascination poses for me, since I'm the one who ends up with the unenviable job of unraveling it all. I can imagine how you'll take this as a confirmation of how deficient I must be at child-like play.

Now having caught on to the dearth of string which afflicts our home, he is getting even more creative. The other day he knotted two bathrobe ties together and made a pull to shut his bedroom door. I found out about it after I heard the door close for what seemed like the fifteenth hundred time. There he was, opening and pulling it shut ceaselessly and without tiring. I wonder what he got out of that experiment. Hopefully more than just my earful of door closings. Here are some photos to show you what he did just last week with a metal tape measure he found in yet another kitchen drawer. I was somewhat worried that he'd made that particular discovery because tape measures of this kind can cut with their sharp edges. He was fine though. Happy to show me this latest inventive effort. You think he might go into an engineering or bridge-building career? Perhaps something architecturally oriented? I'll let you tell me what you make of it all. Also, do you have any ideas about what kinds of toys I might purchase for him that do not involve beading nor bracelet making? I'm all ears for your advice.


Oh! Before I go, here are some photos of the flowers I bought this morning and the arrangement I made out of them. As you can see, I'm into building too. I thought it was charming. Not too stiff and just haphazard enough to fit the spirit of this gorgeous spring weather we are enjoying in Houston today . To those of you still under the mantle of winter, may it remind you of what is to come. In all cheerfulness, have a happy Saturday and a fabulous weekend. That wish goes double for Cce and Louise. Thinking of you guys. Milena.