How Did That Get In There?

I built the boys a fort today. It's raining. It's cold. What else are we supposed to do once all our responsibilities are finished?

Once the fort was built, we all picked our light up toy of choice, turned off the basement lights, and settled in. It only took a minute for Jack's aroma to fill the small space though. Always a funny topic in our house, we made jokes about it. I then turned to Jack and asked him, "Jack, what have you got in your diaper that smells so stinky?"

He looked like he gave it some serious thought before responding and shouted, "Dog poop!"

Cue the hysterical laughing from the other two boys who love a good poop joke. I have to wonder how that dog poop managed to get in his diaper though. Poor Jack. The cruel victim of a poop prank.

What Could Be Better Than A Fort?

I think I have mentioned this before, but I think it is safe to say it again: I love fort-building.  It is one thing that meets all my criteria for a fun activity for everyone, not just some of us.  Why do I love this activity?

1. Everyone can participate/play

2. Everyone can help and give ideas (except maybe Jack...)

3. It uses physical energy as well as creative/mental energy

4. It often lasts quite a while (sometimes days)

5. The only mess is blankets and pillows

Yesterday, since Matt was using the living room for working, the boys and I decided to leave him in solitude and camp out upstairs, literally.  We got out every spare blanket we own (plus some that are not spares, but we just needed them!) and even completely rearranged their bedroom furniture so as to maximize fort-building efforts!  The result was one killer fort that was so big and had so many passages and separate rooms, that I kept hearing, "Hey!  Where are you, Ben?" and "Where did Jack go?  Oh, he's over in the dragon training room!"  Questions such as "Is mom still in here?" and "Did she sneak into the dungeon or is she in the guard room?" where common types of questions as we actually could loose each other in there.  

At bedtime, we were faced with a decision: tear it down or sleep in it?  We had to make this decision, as all their bedding was being used as roof pieces and they had nothing left on their beds!  I don't think I even need to tell you what we chose, even though it pretty much guaranteed a shorter night of sleep on a school night: yes, they slept in it.  They could have each had their own room, but they don't want that in real life, so why would they choose it now?  What kind of fun/mischief is to be had when you are separated?

I am quite proud of my/our finished product, but we already have plans to re-group and re-build it today.  Ben is even going to draw up the "map" of how he would like to see it built.  His ideas can get pretty "out there" as far as what is actually possibly with only furniture and blankets, but we will try our best!

Fort Couch Cushion

Creating forts out of my living room couch cushions is one of my boys' favorite indoor activities.  I can always count on that to buy me some extra time doing whatever it is I am doing.  Just when they are running out of steam and beginning to annoy each other and need a change of pace, all I have to do is say, "Hey guys, I have a great idea!  Let's make a mess of cushions!"  

"Mess of cushions" is the term we use for this game because it often doesn't even involve making anything really, other than a giant mess.  Now since our last move, we have WAY too many couches in our living room still, which is great news for Ben and Mitchell - plenty of walls, roofs, slides, and parts of caves, cars, boats, and volcanos to use!  

They pull them all off the couches and begin by just making a giant pile on the floor. Next, they wrestle around on this for a while (usually until someone gets wedged head down with feet in the air and can't get out or sandwiched under a large cushion and sat upon until they are tired of it.)  Once they have jumped around in this manner for a bit, the game gets a bit more organized, especially if Matt or I join in and help out.  Matt likes to get technical and build cars and boats with all sorts of details like convertible roofs and windshields and opening doors.  

My construction of choice is just the classic fort.  It is easy, it is sturdy, and all three boys can play in it without having to hold it together in some way, continually fix it, or shoe the littlest brother away again and again.

When we first moved to our newest place, I put a ban on this game because I no longer had a separate family room that could be messed up without messing the whole house up.  They could build forts in one room while I relaxed in another and still have a couch to sit upon.  Now that we are here, I have to sit amidst the wreckage as it happens and know that with each cushion that comes off, is one more cushion I have to help put back on.  

I have recently lifted the ban on "mess of cushions" though because they boys were constantly asking for it.  It really is a fairly easy mess to clean up, it keeps all three of them entertained and playing together, and even burns off a lot of that abundance of energy they always seem to possess.