Make it Work

For years now, Project Runway has been one of my favorite shows – and Tim Gunn one of my favorite TV personalities. I love how calm, encouraging, and honest he is. And, as a mother, I admire his keen ability to quiet a storm and quickly restore order. The entire workroom can be going to pot and the designers melting down, and all Tim Gunn has to do is utter his trademark phrase, "Make it work", and once again all is well.

I may not be a fashion designer, but I've been having a lot of "Make it work" moments lately.

My husband is in law school at night and he still works full time during the day. Also, I work part time. That means on the days I go into the office I manage child pick up, dinner, and bedtime for our two boys by myself. And on the days that I'm home, I can be on solo Mom duty for up to 14 long hours.

Let me be clear, I'm not complaining. We made the decision to tackle law school together. And my employment situation is also my choice. Still, it's been a lot harder than either of us thought. By the week is done, I'm tired and just plain out of Mommy mojo. So when the boys are grumpy and bored, sometimes I have to try and make it work with whatever is on hand.

Like cardboard boxes.

I simply plopped Evan in the other day and the whining stopped. Hurray!

Soon enough, MJ wanted to join in. Luckily we had a bigger box in the garage for big brother. We decided to pretend they were cars. Here they are together going for a drive...

So much fun!!!

Next, we decided to decorate the car. I gave MJ a box of crayons and and he got to work.

When I could see he was getting bored with that, I figured some stickers would keep him engaged. Except I didn't have any stickers. But what I did have was a ton of those adhesive address labels - you know the kind that charities send out in hopes that you'll donate to their cause?

Well, to my toddler they are stickers. Like I said, just make it work.

We even busted out some old rubber stamps and ink pads. Dangerous, I know, but I let him have at it. It turned out fun and nowhere near as messy as I feared.

Last but not least, we decided to put in an "airbag" in our car. The inflated plastic packaging that came with whatever was ordered in MJ's box was perfect. He was obsessed.

Hmm... I wonder what Tim Gunn would say about MJ's fashion choice of a too small Christmas PJ top paired with Thomas the Train underpants???? 

It was about this time that I noticed that those little green bags say something important like, "Warning. Not a toy. Keep out of reach of children."

Oops.

I guess I can withdraw my application for Mother of the Year. :) But look how much fun he's having!

We played in our cars for most of the afternoon. This was instead of going to the library, which I had suggested. The cars were definitely messier, louder, and required more supervision, but it was fun. In fact, just this morning when another box arrived on our doorstep, MJ ran to the kitchen drawer to grab his crayons.

Here we go again!