Be Careful What You Promise

I've been trying to put the finishing touches on Anna's room. There's some urgency to this project because I only have until Halloween to complete all my projects. I'm reminded of Hofstadter's Law. (It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take Hofstadter's Law into account.)

Anna wants to help, and complains that we never let her do any chores. (How about cleaning up all your toys in the sun room? Oh, Daddy, that's so boring!) I usually let her do something, so it's hard for me to explain that the remaining tasks require a bit more precision than she is capable of.

As an example, I've been putting base cap molding on top of the plain baseboard. It dresses things up a bit, and it's my way of saying, "this room is finished."

She doesn't want to help cut the base cap, because the miter saw is loud and scary, and I casually mentioned that it can cut off your hand; however, installing the pieces is a different story. If I had a nail gun I might be able to scare her away. But a hammer and nails? She hit a nail once at school, so she's an expert.

The proper response would have been to let her hit a few nails. I can always repair the damage after she gets bored.

But no. I had to get creative. She's not interested in pounding nails just for the sake of pounding nails. There has to be a payoff. Maybe we can build something? How about a princess castle?

Wait, did I say that out loud?

The thing about Anna is that when she hears that we are going to do something, she thinks we are going to do it right now. (This may be true of other small children, but I have a feeling it is particularly true for Anna.) A princess castle is something that we could build - given time to consider the requirements, research construction methods, acquire the necessary materials...

"Daddy, I made a plan!"

This is a concept drawing. Apparently, the castle needs to have a drawbridge that goes up and down, a moat (with crocodiles?), and a few towers with a place for the fairy godmother to hang out. The colors are for illustrative purposes only. The castle should be pink, but she didn't want to use up the pink marker. (She's not that concerned about using up the red, orange, and green markers.)

So, now I have to add "build a castle with Anna" to my list of projects. Ironically, I let her pound a few nails into the trim, and she didn't cause any damage. She also had fun with wood putty and sandpaper.