Our kids are great sleepers and Ella, in particular, is a champion napper. There are a number of fabulous benefits of this but there is one drawback, which is glaring on a sunny warm weekend day – being trapped at the house (and for the most part, inside) with the older sibling while the younger one takes a three, sometimes four, hour snooze. But I refuse to compromise the nap schedule – always have. Trevor was busy taking care of some things during this past Sunday afternoon, so I wanted to find something that Taylor and I could do together inside when we put Ella down for her nap. I had an idea for a DIY project I would like to do at the cabin with sailing/signal flags, and hoped that he would enjoy picking out ones he liked and then would help me paint the designs on paper. He was thrilled to learn that each flag represented a letter, and quickly determined he wanted six flags – one for each letter in his name. He loved the idea of the flags (not so much of the paining after a little while – see “Reality Check” below) but decided that he’d prefer to draw the flags with markers. He then hatched a plan whereby he made flags for each of us (“D” for daddy and “M” for mommy, “E” for Ella and “T” for Taylor), found sticks in the yard to attach to the flags, and devised an Olympic competition for us all to have once Ella got up from her nap. What started as a personal craft project led to the perfect imaginative play day for Taylor and a fun activity for the whole family. The best part? Seeing Taylor so proud of his idea and its execution. After Ella got upset during the first race (she, like her mommy, doesn’t like to lose) he would race several more, letting her pull ahead and win just at the end.
Taylor picking out the flags he wanted to paint.
I love the look of a child’s brushstrokes.
The finished flags, waiting for the competition to begin.
Taylor, practicing for the big race. Ella, continuing to practice her flag waving.
Raising your flag before the big family race. I have no idea why Trevor is saluting.
Reality Check. A few letters in to the painting project, Taylor veered off his plan to spell his name. You could actually see the wheels turn that if he picked letters with more white space and less painting, he would be done with the project sooner. Taylor, like many boy his age, only has so much patience to sit and do one project for a long span of time. So if the DIY post ever comes to fruition using the painted flags, you may note that they spell TAXLVZ rather than TAYLOR.