Eva the Handywoman

One of the necessities of living in a very small house with a child is that we don’t allow ourselves to acquire too much needless gear for her. Eva’s room is too small for anything other than her crib, dresser, rocking chair and one little bookshelf. So we only have a few big toys at a time and as soon as she starts to lose interest in them, we either pack them away or give them away and we get something else.

Recently we traded in a big plastic Fisher-Price toy for this cute little table and chair set from Ikea. Not only does Eva like this better, but it’s looks a hell of a lot nicer in our living room.

Eva absolutely loves to color, so this was a huge win for her. Now she can sit up on this chair (and even though her feet dangle way above the floor, somehow she can get up and down from this chair on her own) and color anytime she wants.

Assembling the table was almost as fun for her as sitting at it. She dove right in and started using the tools in just the same way her Dad was. She even knew where the second leg of the table was supposed to go and started trying to put it there herself. Next I’m going to set her to work fixing my broken kitchen cabinet.


NoNoNoNo

This video is pretty representative of what Eva’s like these days. She was playing with the screwdriver trying to disassemble this toy but as soon as I tried to get a video of it, she had other ideas. Because whatever I’m doing is ten times more interesting than whatever she’s doing.


Insomnia

One of the first things that happened when I got home today was one of my kitchen cabinet doors broke off as I was opening it (gently and normally, I swear). The wood just broke right away from the top hinge and the door stuck out at a crazy angle, held on by only the


Life List or To-Do List? You Decide

I’ve been fascinated lately with the whole “Life List” trend. Popularized by Maggie from Mighty Girl, as far as I can tell, the trend has really taken off in the last couple of years. I’m conflicted about how I feel about it. On the one hand, I like many of the ideas behind it. I