A New house
Greetings to everyone.
In less than a week, we will have been living in this house three full years. Still, we have not fully unpacked everything from our move.
As Christmas is nigh upon us and we have guests flying in to stay with us over the next few weeks, Rebecca wanted to hang some of the pictures still packed in boxes and lining one of the walls in the basement. She especially wanted to hang a mirror and some pictures on the newly painted wall over the fireplace. There already empty stocking hung waiting for Santa to fill, and garland and lights made festive the hearth. The mirror and pictures would pull the seasonally decorated room together with a cozy feel.
The process of hanging the items required not only some rudimentary math, but tools. And tools, of course, attract Xavier, who we knew would want to help.
So, on a shopping expedition this evening, Rebecca found a cardboard house on clearance. Designed for children to color in the prints decorating the house, Rebecca also picked up a set of forty markers. These, she thought, would keep Xavier busy and out of our hair while we hung the items.
It was a good plan for any child other than Xavier.
Of course, we had to build the house. Though it came with an instructional set of pictures, it still took nearly an hour to put it up. Then, as we left Xavier to his own devices coloring his own house, we heard it.
"Mama. Daddy. Come color with me."
Oh, how pitiful he can sound when he wants to! So, Xavier helped hang pictures but staying out of the way and playing with tools he found in the open toolbox. After we had hung enough for the night, we followed Xavier into his room to help him color his house.