A Few Cool Things

Have any of you ever bought your kids any of those weird rubbery things that grow several times their size when placed in water? No. Of course you haven’t. And neither have I because they are kind of disturbing and they don’t just grow big naturally. They grow in uneven bulging lumps and spurts here and there until finally, after days of sitting in a glass bowl of water that you try not to look at even though it is right on your kitchen counter, they have reached something that is several times their original size.

I said I have never bought such things. Unfortunately they have still wriggled their way into my home – they sneak in as part of small birthday party fun sacks, they make themselves available in prize boxes at school, etc. And it isn’t as if they go through one disturbing growth cycle and all is done. Oh no. Once you take them out of the water, all blubbery and wet, they slowly shrink down to their pre-enlarged size . . . and then you can grow them big all over again. It’s probably kind of like how the Incredible Hulk works . . . only slower.

Anyway, the above picture is Goldie’s growing skeleton. He’s already gone through several growing and shrinking cycles this summer. But, during his most recent period of smallness, Goldie decided he ought to be a little more modest. Or, perhaps he was cold. Maybe he just had a special event to attend and wanted to look his best. I’m not sure. All I know is that a small shirt and matching trousers were fashioned for the fellow by Goldie’s skillful hands. I only hope she doesn’t forget to remove them when he goes back in the water – we all know how the Incredible Hulk’s clothing faired during his enlargement spells.

And what about this:

I was trying to hurry Penny up to bed tonight. She was protesting as she madly tried to finish her drawing before I dragged her away. Afraid that I might not let her finish, she made her way up the stairs – drawing as she went. She threw herself onto the ground to make use of a children’s book as a hard surface to get the last of her picture done before I made bedtime official. Then she held her picture up angrily and said, “This doesn’t look like a chicken!”

I disagreed. I thought it was the coolest chicken I’d ever seen – especially for one drawn so quickly and under such duress. And, when one considers it was her first ever chicken drawing, one must feel, as I do, that if she were to pursue a career of sorts in chicken art, it couldn’t fail to be a success.

Plus, look at this cute bunny:

Oops. I mean dog. I think it is spectacular. Only I keep forgetting and telling her what a great job she did on that bunny and she gets mad because it is a dog. She always wants to color pictures that she prints off, but I love when she colors free-draw style. So she will say, “Can I print a picture?”

And I will reply, “How about you just draw me a picture? I love the pictures you draw. Like, remember those trees you drew?”

“A forest, Mom.”

“I loved that forest. And remember how great you drew that rabbit the other day?”

“It’s a dog, Mom.”

“A cute dog.”

Anyway, I just really liked the skeleton clothes and the chicken and the cute little . . . dog.