Boxing Day

My parents visited this past weekend, bringing with them bags of Easter candy, Sunday morning breakfast, and enough clothes for a three-month stay (they tend to overpack a little).  They also brought a large, highly-anticipated gift: a toy box for Kyle.  It truly is a thing of beauty, and it is BIG.  It's large enough to hold most of Kyle's toys, his stuffed animals, my magazines, the TV remote, partially-eaten sandwiches, and whatever else the little guy decides to drop in there.  No more tripping on toys!  No more looking around for things!  Hahahaha... yes, I'm just kidding myself.  At least now we have a place were toys should belong.

The box was hand-crafted by my father himself.  He is highly skilled in making these kinds of things.  The cradle I first slept in was built by my dad, and when I was older, he created a backyard fort for my brother and me, using a window shade to create a retractable roof.  I understand this design has been used as a model for several major league ballparks.  Like most kids, I took my father's creations for granted, but now I realize how much skill they require, skill that I have yet to develop myself.  I once made Kyle a chair out of Duplo Lego blocks... it couldn't hold him. 

My son loves his new toy box.  As soon as it was set up in his room, Kyle started putting things in it, including some toys.  Right now, the little guy is obsessed with opening and closing doors, and the toy box gives him an opportunity to do just that whenever he wants.  He must have opened and closed that thing a hundred times in the first day alone.  There's a nice little opening right under the box top to help him open it.  The opening also allows air to flow freely into the box, which will be useful should the little guy decide that his baby brother needs to go into storage too.

So this is the major excitement around our household this week, and I am very grateful to my dad for providing it.  The beat-up basket that held some of Kyle's toys is now in the trash, and an old crate that held other toys will once again be used to store our own junk.  Thanks to my dad, we might regain a little more sanity in our apartment.  It's about time, too.  As I mentioned before, this was a highly-anticipated gift, in part because my dad had initially said he was going to give us the toy box on Kyle's first birthday.  Kyle turns three in June.  Better late than never, right?  I think so.