Instilling the essentials

As parents, Joe and I definitely have our own lists of what we want Madeline to appreciate in life. I don't want to speak for Joe but I'm pretty certain his list includes an appreciate for Bon Iver, biking and fishing.

Among many other items, my list includes a love for jigsaw puzzles.

(It's OK if that statement makes you want to push aside my walker, pull up a chair and spoon-feed me chicken noodle soup. I understand.)

I love puzzles. Years ago, I remember thinking that when I had a family of my own, I would set up a table that would always have an unfinished puzzle so anyone could sit down at any time to work on it.

And then I wondered why the cool kids never invited me to sit at their lunch table.

This week, a little bit of my dream came true.

I sold some books to Half Price Books and promised myself I wouldn't spend the money in the store.

The major flaw in this plan was to not spend money in a bookstore. Even bookmarks whisper to me when I walk in.

I passed a table of puzzles on the way out and I spied this big Disney one.

I've been looking for a harder puzzle for Madeline and knew this would be perfect. She loves puzzles and does her three Princess puzzles, one Cars puzzle and one Barbie puzzle nearly every day. She's done them so many times that she finishes all of them in one 15-minute sitting. 

And did I mention this happens nearly every day? Clearly it was time to push her to a new level.

This new puzzle is 750 pieces, way too much for her to do on her own but perfect if Joe and I helped her.

The next morning, she woke me up with a request to start the puzzle. After an hour of puzzling, we finally ate breakfast.

I don't know if this kind of time lapse has ever happened before. She typically wakes me up demanding food because nothing gets between this girl and her yogurt. But apparently a giant Disney puzzle can.

 

After three days of on and off puzzle action and eating meals around developing images of Cruella De Vil and Peter Pan, we finished the puzzle last night.

My husband and this little girl keep making all my dreams come true, even the nerdy ones.