Vitafamiliae

I try not to stifle creativity in the kids, as long as they’re not breaking any house rules or endangering themselves.  This means that they “borrow” Andrew’s hammer and measuring tape often and a lot of their toys get taken outside to become part of their inventions.  Sometimes we lose toys to the elements, but I’m trying to remain philosophical about it.  After all, if I didn’t let them get away with that on occasion, the boys would have never invented this:

It’s a thief-catcher.  What, like you couldn’t tell?

A few weeks ago we had a string of neighborhood robberies and the boys have been obsessed with catching the “thief who stole Daddy’s iPod.”  My understanding of this particular contraption is that the ball will drop on the long stick and the horse head will fall on the thief.

Makes sense, right?

Adam looks especially pitiful in this picture, doesn’t he?  The sling they gave him in the hospital didn’t fit so the doctor said I should just make him one out of a dish towel.  Consequently, he goes around looking like a displaced Civil War soldier.

On the other side of that whole “don’t stifle their creativity” thing, there’s Ellen.

She had a busy morning.  She pulled the leaves off our inside lemon tree.  She wrote all over her face and clothes with a dry erase marker only seconds after I got her dressed for the day.  Later she repeated the same process with a set of highlighters I’d lost and she’d found.  And I couldn’t figure out how she was getting wet outside until I saw her jumping on the trampoline with a cup full of water.  Mystery solved.

So when she headed out the back door with a hammer, I ran after her and removed the implement from her over-creative little paws.  With the sort of day she was having, I don’t doubt she could have torn our fence down in ten seconds flat.

I don’t like to stifle creativity in the House of Vitafam.  But I sure don’t mind slowing it down every now and then.