The fort

Poor AJ. He's grown to the ripe old age of almost five before Mommy remembered just how fun it is to build a hideout in the living room.

Last week, I was visiting the home office of a videographer I work with on various projects. The guy happens to have a son who's just a few months younger than AJ. Tanner was home that day and excitedly grabbed my hand and pulled me into their living room to show me his engineering marvel: blankets and sheets draped from the couch to chairs to the coffee table. In his mind, I do believe, it was a multi-room mansion with connecting tunnels. He'd stocked it quite well with all of his favorite toys.

That got me thinking. And draping.

Our fort started small: two blankets stretched from the couch to a dining room chair. It was the perfect hideaway for AJ and Sydney who felt quite daring venturing out, grabbing a favorite toy, and then dashing back in. Alas, Mommy's building technique did not stand up well to this constant pulling and lifting of the blankets, and soon we were dealing with wall and ceiling collapses.

So of course our solution was to make it bigger and better. Three dining room chairs and a queen size bed sheet did the trick. This was no longer just a fort. It became a movie theater! Welcome to the premiere of Fraggle Rock, a DVD we picked up a few weeks ago but had yet to watch.

How did I forget this simple joy of childhood? Thanks Tanner for reminding me!