I love that Ben is walking/talking/playing/growing and doing all of the things that a normal 3 year old can and should do. I love that he’s creative and is capable of playing by himself while using his imagination. I also love that he can look at things and know enough to ask questions as to why something is one way or another. I think that Carol and I are going to have a really smart kid on our hands (which really makes me question his paternity, but that’s another story). One thing that he has really gotten into ever since he started playing with them is puzzles. He is really good at them and even his teachers have commented on his ability to do puzzles beyond his age group. That makes us ecstatic.
To a point
For as long as I can remember, Ben has also been addicted to Toy Story, or as he calls it, Toy Towry Tree. It doesn’t matter if it’s the first or second installment of the movie, any and all things related to Toy Story are referred to as Toy Towry Tree. He will call the characters by name such as Buzz, Woody, Boozeye (Bullseye), Mr Doodoo Head (Mr Potato Head – no I did NOT teach him that) and so on, but for the most part, it’s all Toy Towry Tree. I am also fine with that as the movies are really entertaining and are definitely suitable for his age group. The problem came when the two worlds of puzzles and TS3combined.
About a week before the TS3 opened, one of Carol’s employees was kind enough to bring in a puzzle she had received at the Shriner’s Parade. She was aware of Ben’s addiction and thought that while she would make Ben happy, she may also get a couple of brownie points with the boss (maybe not, but I’d definitely make fun of her for it if I worked with her). As soon as Carol brought it home Ben was in love with it. It actually came in two parts – the first part was the actual puzzle itself and the second part was a picture of what the puzzle is supposed to look like when completed. The good news about 3 year olds is that it was pretty much the equivalent of two separate gifts. At first, he’d just as soon carry the picture around as he would make the puzzle.
That is until about a week ago.
Once we went and saw the movie, he acquired a horrible infatuation with this puzzle. The puzzle is roughly 80 pieces so it is a little out of range for a 3 year old. I’m sure that if I left him alone for an hour or so that he could do it, but I also know that he’s 3 and unless it’s Buzz and Woody on a television or movie theatre screen, there is no chance he’ll be focusing on anything for an hour straight. That’s where Mom and Dad come in.
I stopped counting how many times a day he asks us to help him with his puzzle. I never mind playing with him (except for when we play with blocks and he knocks my towers down) and I really don’t mind doing puzzles. This puzzle, however, takes a while to make. It’s not that it’s a difficult puzzle, but there are two or three pieces missing, Ben has a habit of sitting on the remaining pieces, taking apart sections that you have already completed, and once the puzzle is completed, asking me so sweetly to do it again. And again. And again.
The infatuation with this puzzle is so strong that yesterday morning Ben let Carol know that he was ready to wake up by knocking at his bedroom door. Normally when we open the door we are greeted by a cute little boy rubbing his eyes due to the bright lights and saying “Good morning Mommy/Daddy.” Yesterday, however, when Carol opened the door he was standing there holding one of the missing puzzle pieces. He quickly brushed past Carol (no “good morning” or anything), went to the living room, and placed the missing piece exactly where it belonged as if he had been contemplating it all night.
Once Carol told me this story, I knew I was in trouble that night. On Mondays, I like to go home and relax on the couch because Monday is one of my busier days. It’s the first day back after the weekend and usually requires a bit more rehabilitation time than the other days of the week. As a result, if Carol is working that night I’ll get home, cook some dinner for Ben and I, give him a bath, and then put on a movie for him while I relax in the other room. This day, however, I just knew that I would not be able to relax because he would want to do the puzzle over and over and over again. That’s when I did something that I was immediately ashamed of but did it anyway.
I hid the puzzle under the rug.
When we first got home Ben had to use the bathroom. I took that chance to put my plan into action and went to the living room where I slid the puzzle underneath the area rug. After washing his hands, he immediately went looking for the puzzle and, of course, couldn’t find it. He came to me and asked me where it was and I, playing stupid, asked him where he left it. He looked a little confused, but went to his room in search of where he might have left it. I felt like crap, but it’s a feeling I’m used to so I brushed it off and went about making his dinner.
After dinner we skipped the bath and he immediately went looking for the puzzle again. It was my intention that if he couldn’t find the puzzle right away, maybe he might just forget about it and play with some other toys. I would even have been fine with making the Spongebob puzzle as it has much bigger pieces and takes a fraction of the time to put together. Unfortunately, not only did he not find the puzzle, he began carrying around the picture of what the puzzle was supposed to look like as if it were a map leading him to his treasure. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore.
I called him into the living room and asked him where he last remembered seeing the puzzle. As he pointed to the ground, I lifted up the area rug which I had previously swept the puzzle under, and exposed what he had been looking for. His eyes looked upon me with such a gaze of admiration and wonder that I felt like the hero that I was. Then, reality sank in and I immediately felt like the ass that I was for hiding it in the first place. To compensate for my cruelty, I asked him if he’d like to make the puzzle. His answer: “No, I watch Dora.”
So, I put on Dora the Explorer, went into the other room, and got my relaxation. Somehow, though, I didn’t feel settled. He had no idea what I had done, but I did. About 10 minutes before he had to get ready for bed, I went into the living room and sat down to make his puzzle. Not 15 seconds had passed before he was down there putting the puzzle together with me. As we put the puzzle together we began singing the silly songs that we usually sing. The songs can range anywhere from Ben being a big boy to how much Daddy likes making puzzles with Ben. I began to feel much better about my indiscretion and was starting to think that maybe I wasn’t such a bad father after all. Heck, Ben was in awe of me for both finding his puzzle AND for being the best puzzle maker in the whole world. To celebrate our fun, I began singing about how Ben was my best friend. Then, Ben took over the song and sang about his best friend.
It was Kaitlin – his teacher at school.
Serves me right.
Thanks for reading.
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