Thursday, November 13, 2008

Last Christmas's Least Practical or Useful Gift


Last Christmas we went a little crazy in the gift-buying department. One of the gifts we bought for Kepler was a neato set of playdough -- 20 cans of excellent colors. He seemed a little young for it, so I put it in a box under Greg's end table by his chair. Long about April, I got some out and offered it to him. He liked it about as much as pond slime. Put it away. Offered it again in July. Still didn't think he wanted to be associated with it at all. Along about September, Kepler discovered the box. And he learned how to slide it out from under the table. We learned how to slide it back in, over and over and over. So, the past two months, I have been gathering up empty playdough cans, along with large hunks of playdough that have been liberated from their cans and left in interesting places. I think we're down to two or three cans. He STILL doesn't like the playdough, except to liberate each color systematically. I'm sure he has enjoyed it, just not like the manufacturer, or the giver, intended. I'm learning to be detached from the outcome and this seems like a perfect time to practice!

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