One of the neatest things about Rowan is his enthusiasm for a project. He loves to be given a task, the directions to complete the task, and then the space and encouragement to fulfill his duties.
Yesterday he and I ran to the store to pick up a few things for my grandmother, and while we were there Rowan browsed the Halloween isle. After exclaiming, “NORANGE!” for every single pumpkin he saw, a plastic machete caught his eye. It was clearly intended to maim/kill/torture the victim of the wielder (how is this holiday, and I use that term loosely, for kids???). Rowan held it in his hands, turned it over a few times, then held it up for me to see, with a huge grin on his face. “Knife, Mama! Cook!! Please we cook, Mama?”
Over-protective and VERY selective about the shows/music/people her child is exposed to, Mom: One
Violent/corrupt/moral-less world: Zero
After the knife incident, Rowan spotted some grotesque window stickers. You know, the ones that attach to your windows using static cling? He really wanted to bring them home and affix them to the glass door that leads from his play room to the back porch. I was less than thrilled with the depiction of a youthful zombie with a pipe through its brain, so I opted out of the sticker purchase, and led him to the housewares isle. We paid for a roll of wax paper, and headed home.
After unloading our loot, I explained to Rowan that we were going to collect some leaves, press them, and then iron them between two sheets of wax paper. After, we would cut them out, and tape them to the door. I had him at “collect some leaves”, and he was out the door before I was finished with my shpeal.
Yes, he worked tirelessly for the entire afternoon, but his efforts were not in vain. He woke up this morning, walked over to the door, and after studying his handiwork, he proclaimed it, “cute!” Then he skipped into the kitchen asking for pineapple.