Assembly Required

It felt like a Christmas tradition over the years. After the gifts were opened and the paper was cleared away, the boys were dying to crack open the boxes and start playing. The problem was, most everything they received had dozens of little parts to be assembled before they were able to use it. 

Perry's frustration level with this type of task made ME the default assembler each year. If anyone took a picture of me Christmas Day, it was sure to be a shot of me frowning in concentration and hunched over a multi-lingual instruction novel. I remember the sheets of stickers that had to be transferred before the plastic parts would start to resemble a superhero's headquarters. I can't say it was horribly difficult work, but having little boys hanging on me and whining for me to hurry up made it more challenging.

One year, the boys received an enormous Lego castle. I think I spent three whole days constructing that. Since we would be moving to a new house a few weeks later, I brilliantly schemed that if I hot glued the strategic parts as I built, the castle would be sturdy enough to withstand little boy play and it would prevent me from any reconstruction later. A few days after I completed the process, I think one of the boys' friends fell on this masterpiece while rough housing, reducing my hours of labor to a pile of glue-globbed rubble.

This year, I thought I had graduated from that season of life, with boys who are old enough to handle their own assembling. Yesterday, Sam received a Magnetix iCoaster, a marble-rollercoaster contraption that thrilled him...until he opened the box and took a glimpse at the directions. At first, I resisted his pleas for help, gently encouraging him to start by looking at the diagrams and see how the pieces are labeled. I tried my best to ignore the grumbles and moans that I knew were directed my way. The best way for him to learn is by doing, I chanted to myself. I tried to picture the satisfaction he'd have when it was completed.

I finally gave in to his pleas, and sat down to help him. After studying the diagrams, I understood his confusion. The directions looked more like mathematical equations than a guide to assemble a toy. Since I'm a visual learner, I focused on the illustrations, and we were finally able to construct a roller coaster that kind of resembled the one on the box. When we started to connect the electrical components, it became apparent that we were missing the 4 C batteries ...the one size I don't have anywhere in the house.

Sam and I decided to postpone "our" project or risk being late for Christmas dinner at Gram's. Today we will head to the store for batteries and pick up our mission where we left off.