To the Moon!

Monkey takes all the play vegetables out of the basket and puts the basket on her head. I say, “Are you wearing your space helmet, like Little Bear?” She says yes. Turtle then picks up a metal toy pot and puts in on her head. “Hel-mit, too!” she says. “You’re both wearing your space helmets! Do you want to go to the moon?” Yes, they do!

“Ok,” I say, “Let’s get our space ship!” I get the toy rocket out of the play room closet. “Now, let’s get Astronaut Sally and Astronaut Neal! And don’t forget our moon rover.” We collect the astronauts and I ask, “Do we need anything else?” “Sonya Lee,” says Monkey. She grabs her Little People character. “Now Momma needs a helmet,” I say, picking up the toy frying pan and putting it on my head. “Ok, let's go!”

The rocket makes a flying noise, so I take the lead with the rocket “flying” through the air, with Turtle and Monkey following me, each of us keeping our helmets on with one hand and bringing our supplies with the other. They follow me out of the playroom, down the hallway, across the living room, and into the dining room. “We’re here,” I say, “Boy, it’s dark on the moon, isn’t it?” They agree that the light from the living room gives us just enough light to park. The rocket lands, the astronauts disembark, and Astronaut Sally drives the moon rover under the dining room table to explore.

“Let’s eat while Astronaut Sally explores,” I suggest. Turtle and I pull our helmets off and start cooking with them. Luckily, Monkey picked up a plastic egg on the way to the moon, so we have something to eat. Sonya Lee goes to the potty on the toilet inside the rocket, then cooks some food in the microwave. Astronaut Sally returns from her exploration, then Neal goes out to check the quadrant by the potted plant. While he is out, Twin Daddy comes home. “Moon Daddy, sit down, here!” insists Monkey. So Twin Daddy joins us on the moon, still in his work clothes.

After a little more exploring, it’s time to return to Earth. We collect our gear, which has multiplied thanks to Monkey’s frequent solo trips home for more supplies (a plate, a spoon, and Mr. Potato Head’s accessories). When we land I say, “Ok girls, now we have to write a report to NASA about our findings. You use these and I’ll use the computers.” I hand out their Doodle Pros and they each get to work on scribbling, while I pretend-type on the oversized remote controls Uncle C. gave them for Christmas last year. “I want computer, too,” says Turtle. So I give her a remote control and she types her report instead.

We make several return trips to the moon, including one trip that requires both grocery carts to be completely emptied on the moon’s surface.

Best playtime ever.

The Boy Next Door

Turtle and Monkey have a crush on the adorable 5-year-old boy who lives two houses to the left of us in our cul-de-sac. I’ll call him “Boy.” I know the girls are too young for me to call this a crush, but I’m not sure what else to name it – fascination? All I know is that at random times throughout the day, they ask for “mas Boy.”

It started sometime in September, once it was cool enough to play outside during the 5 o’clock hour. Boy and his family get home sometime after 5 every weekday, and he and his two sisters (one older, one younger) get out their bikes and ride around the cul-de-sac. I’ve always taken the girls out to watch the older kids ride their bikes, even before they could walk, but this season they suddenly noticed Boy hot-rodding around the cul-de-sac on his two-wheeled bike or his scooter. From then on it’s been all “mas Boy, mas Boy” every day. The minute they see the family’s car pull into the cul-de-sac, they start yelling “Boy, outside, Boy, Boy, Boy,” and there is a mad dash to put on shoes so we can get out there.

Once we are outside, they run to the edge of our driveway, sit down, and watch him ride. If he goes inside for a minute, they say his name over and over until he comes back. Monkey usually brings our basket of chalk from the front steps and says, “Boy, draw, Boy draw.” Occasionally he stops to draw in the street but usually I have to say, “Monkey, Boy wants to ride his bike right now, not draw.”

I will admit that I’ve encouraged this fascination. It’s so darn cute, and it’s also a fantastic break to have an older kid entertain the girls for awhile while I just sit there and watch. He’s a good example, too. Because Boy wears his bike helmet, the girls put on their own helmets without argument. They’re also a little more interested in actually figuring out how to ride their tricycles on their own, so they can play with Boy in the cul-de-sac without me and Twin Daddy tagging along.

What does Boy think about this? I’m pretty sure he loves it - who doesn’t love an adoring audience? He always comes over to say hello and talk to “the babies.” He’ll occasionally bring his little lawn chairs over to our driveway for the girls to sit in while they watch him. And if we aren’t outside by the time he starts riding his bike, he just bikes right up to our front door to get our attention. When I open the door, he asks the girls, “Do you want to watch me ride my bike?”

Yes, we do, thank you very much.