Quote of the Day:  Imagination is more important than knowledge. – Albert Einstein

Boys can invent a new use for nearly any household object.  The vacuum and its parts have been a sword, a knife, an instrument, and a communications hose…I think.

I wore my hair short for years.  It was wash-n-go easy when my babies were small.  I wanted a new look, grew it out, and got a few hair things…or…

A blindfold.
When I can’t find my favorite hair clip, I ask the guys, “Where did you put the catapult?”
“Stop launching rocks and let me put my hair back.”
I’ve also noticed that instead of taking the easy way, say, the stairs, the boy will hop the stone path, scale the fence, walk the railing, jump from the highest step, or crawl through the gap, just to get to the other side.  So, I asked a boy, “Why do you do that?”  He said, “Because it’s more fun.”
Okay, so the next time I need a pot lid, I’ll look in the costume box with the swords and armor.  My vacuum parts should also be there, or under a tree.  I need to buy a few more catapults, I mean hair clips, so I don’t have to dig through the Legos or look under the couch when I need to pull back my hair for some serious house cleaning.  (Despite their need to shoot things from water guns to marshmallow pellets, they have poor aim in the bathroom.)

Boys have a primal need for adventure.  I’ve seen whole crews of them disappear into the woods, “spears” raised to hunt wild animals.  Of course, the “spears” are anything from sticks to golf clubs.

That type of wild imagination is fascinating to watch.  It inspires me to write “off the page” and challenges me to give boys the kind of adventures they crave.

For more fun stories on raising boys, and their creative use for common objects, see Peace Garden Mama today.  My writer-mama-pal, Roxane, has three boys and many adventures of her own.

Journaling Prompt: What unusual use have you, or your kids, found for ordinary things?  What adventures did you have with them?