I love watching my kids be kids. I love watching them have pillow fights and pet worms. I love watching them make trains out of the dining room chairs and tents out of bunk beds and tables. Now that Nico is a little older, I love watching him venture into the forest with his friends. They explore, search for special rocks and build forts. Luckily we live in a place where it’s possible for him to play outside without having a parent constantly leaning over his shoulder. It reminds me of my own childhood although I must admit that Nico’s games are usually a bit more exciting than mine were (for some bizarre reason, I spent a great deal of my outdoor time as a child, pretending to own and operate a butter factory).

Yesterday Nico spent about two hours after school building a “cabin” in the woods. When he finally finished, he hurried over to ask me to come and see it. As he proudly pointed inside, he exclaimed “And look! It has everything I need!” I peered inside to see only a large nearly empty bottle of Scotch and a broken Hello Kitty thermos, both carefully propped up against one of the cabin “walls.”

“Oh… Great!” I exclaimed, as he went on to explain to me that now if something happened to our family, he’d be okay since he could just come live in his well-supplied cabin. Well, that’s a relief.