A few weeks ago we took the boys to the planetarium for the first time. Patriot LOVED it and has started on this kick about space, astronauts, planets, and stars. This interest has been furthered by a couple of Star Wars video games (Wii and Leapster) that he's been playing lately. We now have a full blown obsession.
So today I decided to not be annoyed by the obsession but instead to play into it. Today he wanted to blast off in a rocket ship and go fight the bad guys in space.
OK, I said, let's go downstairs and build a rocket ship. We got out our play tools and our plastic mega blocks, all ready to build a rocket ship. Azlan and I put together a pretty nice little rocket ship, but Patriot sat with his arms crossed critiquing our work.
When we were done he announced that this rocket ship was not big enough for us to get in. We needed to go outside, get some wood, and build a big rocket ship, he decided.
Well, no, we can't build a rocket ship out of wood because it would catch on fire when we blast off into space, I explained. We'll just pretend to go onto our nice mega blocks rocket ship through this little door, we'll sit down, put on our seatbelts and countdown for blastoff!
Then Patriot got a great idea: we need to turn our car into a rocket ship. It's big enough for all of us to get in and put on our seat belts!
OK, I said. We found a remote for an old toy and covered it in aluminum foil. We printed off pictures of a rocket ship and taped them to our remote, completing our "button" that could turn anything into a rocket ship.
By now, it was naptime, so we decided we'd all get a good rest and blast off after naps. At Patriot's insistance, we "plugged in" the button so it could "charge" while we napped.
They napped a little longer than I expected and I had a Mary Kay appointment tonight, so Daddy was nominated to blast off with them this evening. According to Matt, here's how it went:
Matt hung the button on the rear view mirror and started the car. They counted down, pushed the button, yelled blast off and he hit the gas pedal. After a few moments looking out the window, Patriot was disappointed.
Daddy, it didn't work. We didn't blast off. We're still on the road.
Well, Patriot, were pretending we blasted off and we're flying in space.
No, Daddy, we have to go into the dark to go in space. We have to go off the road. Maybe the button needs to charge longer.
Guess we haven't perfected the "pretending" idea yet. But I will encourage this interest in space. I've always had a special fascination with space myself. Maybe we have a future astronaut in our house.
So today I decided to not be annoyed by the obsession but instead to play into it. Today he wanted to blast off in a rocket ship and go fight the bad guys in space.
OK, I said, let's go downstairs and build a rocket ship. We got out our play tools and our plastic mega blocks, all ready to build a rocket ship. Azlan and I put together a pretty nice little rocket ship, but Patriot sat with his arms crossed critiquing our work.
When we were done he announced that this rocket ship was not big enough for us to get in. We needed to go outside, get some wood, and build a big rocket ship, he decided.
Well, no, we can't build a rocket ship out of wood because it would catch on fire when we blast off into space, I explained. We'll just pretend to go onto our nice mega blocks rocket ship through this little door, we'll sit down, put on our seatbelts and countdown for blastoff!
Then Patriot got a great idea: we need to turn our car into a rocket ship. It's big enough for all of us to get in and put on our seat belts!
OK, I said. We found a remote for an old toy and covered it in aluminum foil. We printed off pictures of a rocket ship and taped them to our remote, completing our "button" that could turn anything into a rocket ship.
By now, it was naptime, so we decided we'd all get a good rest and blast off after naps. At Patriot's insistance, we "plugged in" the button so it could "charge" while we napped.
They napped a little longer than I expected and I had a Mary Kay appointment tonight, so Daddy was nominated to blast off with them this evening. According to Matt, here's how it went:
Matt hung the button on the rear view mirror and started the car. They counted down, pushed the button, yelled blast off and he hit the gas pedal. After a few moments looking out the window, Patriot was disappointed.
Daddy, it didn't work. We didn't blast off. We're still on the road.
Well, Patriot, were pretending we blasted off and we're flying in space.
No, Daddy, we have to go into the dark to go in space. We have to go off the road. Maybe the button needs to charge longer.
Guess we haven't perfected the "pretending" idea yet. But I will encourage this interest in space. I've always had a special fascination with space myself. Maybe we have a future astronaut in our house.
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