Project: Laundry Basket Stand and Wood Computers

Last week I decided we needed to build something for our laundry baskets. The kids and I dug through our scrap wood bin and came up with a tentative plan.  They also commandeered wood to make computers and build fires.

On Wednesday I dropped the kids off on campus so I could work for a bit.  On the way out the door Emily grabbed the wood they had been using with plans for cutting parts and gluing pieces together.  Andrew took them right up to the lab.  Emily and Nathan both practiced using the saw and then made their final cuts for their project.  Andrew used the “stinky glue” to assemble them before they went to catch the bus (it took three tries for them to actually make it to the bus stop before it pulled away – it takes awhile to mobilize three kids!).

Thursday afternoon during Laura’s nap the older two painted their computers.  Emily got really into color mixing and spent a lot of time experimenting.  Nathan enjoyed painting and choosing different colors to add to his palette.   The wooden computers are now part of the everyday play.

We decided to take the whole family to the lab on Saturday to make the stand for the laundry baskets.  We grabbed lunch at chick-fil-a before arriving.  Andrew and I had a quick brainstorming session about the design and then he got to work.  Meanwhile I fed Laura, read the kids books, took the kids to the bathroom, changed two really dirty diapers, and hung out in the stairwell while they looked out the window.  I think I’m finally embracing the reality of mom life and its fun to take the routine to other locations.

We were ready to check in on Andrew and see how things were going.  We arrived just in time for Emily and Nathan to help a bit.  Nathan was using all of his powers of observation and soaked it all in.  Emily jumped right in, hammering and screwing with Andrew’s supervision.  She also discovered a “rabbit” and played with it and found a little fenced in area for it to go.  Laura was a trooper and happily hung out until she was exhausted.  We forgot her pacifier (a key napping component) and quickly gathered our materials to head home.

Andrew did the final assembly when we walked in the front door.  The laundry baskets now fit perfectly in our closet and are easily accessible.  The stand was made out of leftover wood from Emily’s toddler bed and the growth charts, so they contain a fun bit of history too.