Building forts and memories

One of my favorite things about childhood (and there are a lot) was that we had unrestricted access to the wood pile, cans of nails and lots of my dad's tools. We always had amazing visions of what we were going to build. The forts were going to be architectural masterpieces, the gifts for mom were going to be of unforgettable craftsmanship, and the weapons were going to cause siblings to run for cover.

Well, the forts were unique. I'm sure the gifts for mom were unforgettable, and the wooden swords were very successful. All in all, we had a wonderful time building what ever our little hearts desired. Most of the time my dad would lend a hand to make sure our tree houses weren't going to fall out of the tree and our swords didn't have nails sticking out of them. I loved building with dad!

The other day, my little boy decided he needed to build something. I had things to do so I suggested he start by building a prototype out of Popsicle sticks and toothpicks. He was OK with that until his little brother smashed his prototype. That's when he bagged the model and headed to the garage. A few minutes later I heard the sweet sound of a hammer hitting a nail. (He had grabbed some scrap lumber, some nails and a small hammer to build his "fort.") The sound brought all those fun memories back and I chuckled every time I checked his progress.

After ten minutes of hammering, the nail he'd been working on was still in the same position. I told him he was doing great when he asked for help. (He had kindergarten in an hour and I didn't want to start something we couldn't finish). Unsatisfied with my answer, he said, "I'm going to ask Dennis." (Our neighbors are a retired couple who our children adore. The husband can fix ANYTHING). So Dennis came over to "play." Forty minutes later, after following my son's directions and only applying a little advice for safety sake, they had a fort.

It was so hard for my little man to quit building to go to school! I helped him a little after school, the neighbor came back and my husband helped him add more over the weekend. For a six-year-old architect, it was a pretty cool fort! I loved watching my little boy and his daddy out there together with their hammers.