Monday, August 27, 2007

I tell a tale of a blue rhino..

Well, the Eldest continues to be one of the coolest kids I know: he's doing origami! I'd set aside an Usborn kids' origami kit, hauled it to Australia (we'd fold on the plane, right? wrong.), hauled it back (wrong again), and let it moulder in my study.

I pulled it out for our most recent allergy clinic appointment (I already know I'm allergic to eggs, I don't need testing - I don't want testing - no no no no nononononooooooooooooo). It was, happily, a natural extension of the little boy love of complicated paper airplanes, and we happily folded deformed penguins, samurai hats and lopsided houses (I think) until our allergist popped by. Then, we folded jumping frogs while the skin testing was done, and jumped them all around the room while we waited for results. Mine was named Oscar.

And so it began. Today, we drove out to a craft store in Everett to buy more origami paper, and the Eldest talked me into a kit with instructions for folding animals and dinosaurs. I'm such a sucker. We folded mostly-giraffes and nearly headless rhinos, and he glowed.



Two? three? weeks into the origami craze, I foresee a collection of small, papery triumphs. Remembering the Great Airplane Mania of 2006-7, I've made the Eldest promise to share his largess with family and friends. Every third origami folding must leave our home, I told him sternly. Clutching his kit he agreed, but in retrospect wondered if it was okay to mail off my folded works, rather than his own? Sneaky, kid. Very sneaky.

The blue rhino, however, may be here to stay for a while. I wonder if it has a name?

Meanwhile, fear not: the Airplane Mania continues unabated, abetted happily by a certain gentleman with stainless steel knees (or are they titanium?). And the A.M. has found a happy acolyte in the form of the Toddles, who is delighted to throw, if not fold.

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A new blog to look at, and a wonderful birth story. The pictures show a woman in labor, and like that woman, they are not shy but are focussed on the matter at hand. And the story? Well, let's just say that this is not the way that most hospitals (and doctors!) work. But maybe they should.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a cute little animal! origami looks like fun!

:-D)

ZM said...

Origami *is* fun. Assuming, of course, the instruction book is any good. Ours is written mostly in French-English, and while I have some French, it's not enough to understand the English, which was clearly translated from Chinese into French into English.

And the diagrams are pretty dicey, too. Mostly we just fold, and I fold and refold mine until it looks right, then the Eldest copies the last thing I did. Mine end up looking deformed, his far more crisp. Works pretty well!