Every evening before the boys go to bed they are expected to clean up their toys. Quite often they have to be told more than once but for the most part they know the routine and don’t make too many complaints. Last night they had managed to take out all 100 pieces of play food, set up a blanket tent for their stuffed animals, make an intricate wooden train track set up, and use all their cardboard bricks to make a path around the chaos that was the t.v. room. This was all done in the relatively short amount of time that it took me to clean up the kitchen after dinner. If only I had such energy.
The process of cleaning was broken down into types of toys and the boys decided to work together to complete each grouping of toys before moving on to the next. They put away the train, then the food. I helped disassemble the blanket tent while they put away the stuffed animals. That left the cardboard bricks. The cardboard bricks take up a lot of space and so lately we have been fine with them stacked up in the hallway instead of rearranging the closet to fit them all in. I left the boys to their final task so I could wash their swim suits and towels (because they may have touched the changing room floor at the Y last night – ugh!) and we need them again this morning.
Did they simply stack the bricks up in the hallway so they could be done cleaning up? No, they did not. They build not one, not two, but four Buckingham Palaces complete with gates.
As you can see they ran out of bricks and had to appoint Zebra as guard to Palace Number Three.
Zebra was given a telescope to better do his job and as far as I know not a single intruder has gotten past his watchful eye.
*Why Buckingham Palace, you ask. We have discovered Dodsworth and the duck adventure books at our library and the boys are quite taken with them. If you have young kids who like to read I suggest you give them a try. The author is Tim Egan and the book we read is Dodsworth in London. If you are lucky like I am, after reading this book you might just find yourself with a Buckingham Palace or four in your hallway too.
Shoes On The Wrong Feet 
I have never heard of those books. Are they new or old?
I love your kids creativity! It runs in the family:-)
Dodsworth in London is from 2009 so it is pretty new. I had not heard of this series but I tend to gravitate towards older books, ones from the time when I was a child. We love the Sweet Pickles series, Harold and the Purple Crayon books, Caps For Sale and so many others.
I love the way their minds work! Thanks for the compliment. 🙂
Like mother like sons…wonderful, creative and full of delight!! 🙂
Ah, thank you. They did quite a good job with their Buckingham Palaces and I would like to think that the Queen herself would approve.
I have no doubt that she would! Whether she’d play with them or not, may be another story, but I’d like to think that she would. 🙂
I love your boys, they are so creative. :-0
I love them too and not just because they are my boys, they are just pretty darn cool.
Ingenius! Your boys are fabulous! 🙂
Indeed – and now I shall add Architect to the list of things they are fabulous at and may one day become. 🙂
I like their creativity.
Have fun cleaning up.
I never know what random and creative thing I will find when I walk into a room where they have been playing. The Buckingham Palaces lasted for a short while the following morning until the bricks were needed to make an patio for one of their many blanket forts.
It’s all in the name of progress.
My first thought when I saw this pic was OMGOSH I used to play with blocks like that and loved them!!!!Hmmmm I must ask did the zebra have a British accent???
Yup, me too and that is why I had to buy them for the boys. My mom still has one or two of the original cardboard bricks my sister and I loved to play with as children. They are some of the best toys ever!
And to answer your question, I don’t think so. Zebra is the dark and silent type. He did not talk while on guard duty, he merely stood and looked menacing and dangerous.
lovely !lovely , lovley
wait 4 them to became…fireman, policemen , or paleontology discoverer 🙂
http://windwhisperer.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/invatamintecatre-fiul/