The loving house

How did it take me so long to think of this? K's easel has been sitting in the great room being an eyesore for years now, and I've been afraid to slip it out the back door and down the highway to the Goodwill lest I incur her wrath, but now it is a thing of beauty and purpose.

What has changed? Well, that big remnant of white polyester felt that I bought against my better judgement some months ago has finally come into service. I clipped it to the top of the easel and voila! Flannel board! Way cooler than writing on a white board that's been stained with permanent marker, or a black board that's been marred with waxy crayons. K and I (well, mostly I) immediately began cutting shapes out of scrap felt to put up on the board.

The story on the flannel board at the moment is that there is a"loving house" -- because Valentine's Day is coming up, and anyway the scraps are pink and red -- that is guarded by two knights (they look like upended fish to me, but whatever.) I'm not certain what comes next, but that's part of the fun. I will try to find the time to cut out some "surprise" shapes for K when she's not looking today.

Isn't it amazing -- the beautiful dollhouse she got for Christmas, with the fancy expensive dolls and furniture and even tiny clay food, and she wants to play with felt scraps. I'm not saying this in an ironic or bitter way, I'm honestly fascinated at the way children gravitate toward the simplest toys. Even the day after Christmas, she was sailing in a cardboard box boat. Amazing.