Photo A Day, Day 7: Yes

Parents of small children deal with minor frustrations every day. Frustrations such as finding three left shoes but no rights in the child's closet; such as realizing you're out of diapers (or, even worse, baby wipes) in the midst of a major poopsplosion; such as your child announcing AFTER you've spent 20 minutes putting on his ski jacket, snow pants, snow boots, hat, and mittens that he needs to pee. But one of the worst - and most common - frustrations that parents of small children face is toys and games comprised of small pieces, without any one of which said toy or game is non-functional.

In my children's playroom right at this moment, there is a Thomas the Tank Engine matching game that cannot be played without searching through the cards to remove any odd cards missing their match. There are at least three puzzles which are missing one or more pieces. There is a pair of Barbie dolls wearing only one shoe each. And there is a brand-new game called "Angry Birds Mega Smash" which is my son's pride and joy, his favorite toy since he received it for his birthday a few days ago. It's a cool game, it's just challenging enough that he has to really work and think to play it well, and (best of all) he likes playing with it by himself as well as with Mom or a friend. But it has too many blasted pieces, which somehow never manage to be in the same place at the same time.

To add insult to injury, it came with the pieces tucked into the wells of a molded plastic tray. You would think that would be convenient, and it would be, if it were being put away by an adult. But figuring out which pieces nest inside which other pieces to fill each slot is simply beyond the abilities of the average 4-year-old. Which means that Mom gets to put it away. And which also means that certain pieces CANNOT be put away until certain other pieces are found. You can't put away the pack of cards until you've stacked the three short planks that nest under them. And you can't put away the three longer planks until you've stacked the little triangles that support them. It makes cleaning up at the end of the day, instead of an exercise in orderliness and satisfaction in a job well done, an exercise in futility and a cause of gritted teeth and muttered swear words.

But the flip side of that frustration is a masterful sense of accomplishment when not only did you find all the little pieces but you figured out where each one of them goes. And when you look at that little molded plastic torture chamber, with each of its nooks filled with the corresponding figurine or building piece, you can't help but pump your fist in the air and cry out a triumphant, "YES!"

The Games People Play

My son loves games. He loves active games like Hide and Seek, Catch, and Simon Says. He loves board games like Candyland and Chutes and Ladders. He loves brain games like I Spy and What Shapes Do You See. But the games he loves best of all are the ones he makes up himself.

The first game he ever made up was something he calls “Bing, Bang, Boom.” This is a game played by two people using two large balls. The players each hold a ball and sit about 6 feet apart, then chant, “Bing…bang…BOOM!” and on the word “BOOM” they roll the balls toward each other and try to crash them together. When they crash, both players laugh uproariously, chase the balls, and do it all over again.

Another recent favorite is “Soccer Falling.” Another two-player game, this one requires only one ball. The players stand facing each other a few feet apart, and one player kicks the ball to the other. Instead of kicking it back, the receiving player immediately falls over. Cue uproarious laughter. My daughter helped create a 3-player variation of this game where the third player randomly wanders in between the other two and either kicks the ball back to the first player (usually by accident) or gets hit by the ball and falls over. This variation is somewhat less popular because it occasionally ends in tears instead of uproarious laughter.

He’s also created a whole series of dancing games that can be played by any number of players, from one person right on up to however many can fit in the room. These games generally have names like, “Penguin Dance,” “Robot Dance,” and “Silly Chicken Dance,” even though there’s no resemblance to a penguin, a robot, or a silly chicken that I can see. I’m not even really clear on what the difference between these games is, as they all seem to involve madly stomping, flailing, wriggling, shimmying, twirling, and spinning around on the floor like a manic break-dancer. But that fact doesn’t bother him in the least.

Explaining one of his games to cousins John and Catherine.

 

I love that these games are further proof that he can find ways to entertain himself. I love that he understands the concept that games have rules, even if he often changes them. I love that he’s occasionally willing to let his little sister join in his games. I love that he uses his body creatively. I love that he totally cracks himself up when he plays them. And I love how completely uninhibited and unselfconscious he is whenever he plays any of them.

But most of all, I love how uninhibited and unselfconscious I am when I play those games with him. Anyone want to join me for a few rounds of “Silly Chicken Dance”?

 

Is a Puzzlement

A few weeks ago, my husband gave me a Kindle Fire for my birthday. I made the mistake of showing it to my 3-year-old son and downloading a few games for him, and I’ve hardly gotten to use it since. I know – I’m the mom, I can just take it away from him. And sometimes I do. But I’m so amazed and impressed at how well he can use it that sometimes I’m just as entertained watching him use it as I am using it myself.

At one level, it’s impressive because he figured out how to navigate around so easily. He knows how to close a game, go back to the home screen, and choose another. He knows how to go from level to level and screen to screen within a game. He knows how to turn the volume up and down. He knows how to pause it for a minute. He knows which button is the “Play” button even though he can’t read.

But at still another level, it’s impressive because of the games he plays. Especially puzzles. I downloaded a few puzzles that I figured he’d eventually be able to learn, or that maybe he could manage if we did them together. Nope. He’s mastered them all on his own. He puts together jigsaw puzzles of trucks as easily as a truck mechanic rebuilding an engine. That didn’t surprise me, since he’s such a truck aficionado. But then I saw him putting together puzzles picturing random things like Disney characters or plates of food or forest scenes just as quickly and easily. Every once in a while, he’ll come to me and say with a sigh, “Mama, this is hard. Can you help me?” But even then, I give him just a few hints (“Look for a piece with blue sky at the top”) and he’s off and running on his own again.

It’s so amazing to me to think how much this kid has learned in such a short time. Not much more than two years ago, he couldn’t even walk on his own and he couldn’t say a single word besides “up.” And now he’s running around, using a computer, solving complicated jigsaw puzzles, and narrating himself through it all.

He is a puzzlement. A wonderful, wondrous puzzlement.