Thursday, January 8, 2009

Fun In A Box?

Yesterday when Patrick came home from school he was very excited to show me something. "Guess what I got at school?" he asked excitedly.

As he was leading me into the living room to show me, all kinds of things were going through my head. Maybe he won a trophy? I thought. Or got an "A" on his project? Or won a prize?

But then I saw this:


A bunch of huge empty cardboard boxes.

"Whaaa?" I stammered.

"Isn't it great!?" Patrick asked.

"No." I responded.

"My teacher was just throwing them out! And I asked her if I could have them and she said yes!! " Patrick announced.

Thanks Teach! We just spent the past two weeks getting rid of the ten million boxes from Christmas. Now our house is filled with them again...

But of course all the kids thought the boxes were the greatest thing ever.
And played with them all afternoon.
When Don got home and the saw the boxes, I saw complete panic in his eyes. I think he thought I went on a crazed post-Christmas shopping spree. He was relieved they weren't the remnants of my purchases, but mad that he had to haul more crap out for recycling.

So this just reconfirms what I have always thought about kids not needing all those expensive toys we buy them. They're happiest in a box.
Well, except for Pickle's tea party stuff and Meow-Meow (she's in the bed in this pic). That's been a big hit!

Happy Friday and please join Candid Carrie for some Phreaky Foto Phun!!
Photobucket

36 comments:

Alpacamountain said...

Man! Why didn't I get cats like hers? I love the boxed up children. You could send any one of them this way if ya wanted...they are already boxed up and all.

Anonymous said...

It's so true. Last Christmas we bought the boys electric screws and drills. We have tons and tons of random screws and I let them take all the empty boxes and screw and drill them together into elaborate structures. Then they love to take them apart with the unscrew function. THEY LOVE IT!

Putting the FUN in DysFUNctional said...

Those pics are priceless! I still remember when I was a child and we got a new refrigerator. That box provided endless weeks of entertainment for me!

Unknown said...

Yep ... I remember buying my kids expensive toys for Christmas and then watching them have more fun with the boxes than the contents !!

I tell you, I was so tempted just to wrap up a couple of big boxes and stick them under the tree..

Pickle and her tea set looks so cute..you definitely have a winner there. :-)

Tara Bennett said...

I swear. Next year for Christmas all my little girl is getting will be boxes and tissue paper. maybe some wrapping paper too, if I'm feeling generous. That was her fav part about Christmas! Looks like your kids might feel the same way. Cute pix. =)

Susie said...

Pickle is a girl after my own heart!! Forget the boxes!! I need me some tea! Hee, hee, hee.

Erin said...

Lol- when I read the title of your post my mind went to that SNL skit with Justin Timberlake. With the REALLY innappropriate song.....need to get my mind outta the gutter.

Anonymous said...

Oh this is so true (and hilarious!)

I remember the year I scrimped and saved to my son a top of the line keyboard. I wrapped the huge box, bowed it and waited for his reaction on Christmas morning.

It was the same as your kids. "WOW. Look at that humongous box!!!" he screamed to his brother as they shoved the keyboard in the corner and got in the box.

Susan said...

Next year I'm pocketing the Santa spending money and buying boxes, bins and bubblewrap. Instant entertainment for weeks!

SouthernDogwoods said...

Boxes are the best! I remember playing in boxes when I was younger too!

Jennifer said...

I'm amazed at how well she plays with her tea set. What a cutie.

The pics are great! So much fun to be had with cardborad, eh? Who knew? ;P

Ronda's Rants said...

Love it...I have wonderful memories of myself and my siblings playing with moving boxes. My Dad was in the Navy and we moved ..every two years in the month of November...we had great adventures playing in those boxes!

CaraBee said...

I LOVED boxes when I was a kid. When we got a new refrigerator, it was like Christmas! Interestingly, my daughter isn't really interested in them. Give her time. She'll come to know the magic of a box.

Rebecca Jo said...

I was going to say - you know exactly what to get them next year for Christmas!

Pickle & her tea set & Meow-Meow being with her everywhere always makes me smile!

Anonymous said...

Often kids are satisfied with the simpler things in life. Imaginations are not quite redundant.

AV
http://netherregionoftheearthii.blogspot.com/
http://tomusarcanum.blogspot.com/
http://thingsthatfizz.blogspot.com/

Jane In The Jungle said...

Those are great!! Nothing like proudly bringing home boxes to Mom, LOL!!!

Angie said...

LOL, how cute! Boxes= cheap and hours of fun :0) Pickle is darling as ever with her tea set~

Teri said...

You know, it really is the easiest and most simple things that ultimately keep the kids happy. So cute!

Ashley said...

This is too funny. So he hauled the boxes home from school just to play in a cardboard box? Kids are crazy!

amelia bedelia said...

that picture of pickle with her tea set is precious! Isn't it funny how boxes can make kids so happy.

One Crazy Chick! said...

Oh we love BOXES!!!

Sugar Boogers & Tantrums said...

Awww...I can't help but squeal at how cute Pickle is everytime I see her and the tea party just makes the squeals even more pronounced. She is so stinkin cute!!!

Candid Carrie said...

Our super shy cat, Celene, loves boxes and she was jumping in and out of them until her whiskers got stuck on the duct tape. Holy crap, she was frozen solid and terrified to move!

And the more boxes there are, the louder the kids get, right?

Anonymous said...

hahaha.....kids and animals....always seem to like the packaging the best!!!

SuZ said...

How cute are they?!!!

Jen said...

yup, its all about the boxes. they are just so much fun. Great photos.

Jenni said...

Boxes rock. If they had one big enough, I'd get it there, too!

Becky said...

Oh, I would be like you...no that is NOT great! I am so trying to clear out! I think I would panic.
Kids are so sill:)
Looks like they had a great time in them though. (maybe they will be bored with them by garbage night??)

Anonymous said...

I was thinking - so much for those Christmas toys, huh? They are adorable - they look like they are having so much fun. And how funny that your husband worried you had went on a shopping spree

MediMonsters said...

They get so creative with the simplest of things!! Great pics.

Ann Harrison said...

You just can't beat an empty cardboard box! How cool. (And, I have to say, I am such a fan of Pickle and her Tea Party. :-> )

Jennifer said...

kids and boxes....and why do we buy toys again? :P

Anonymous said...

You are so right....it's the BOXES and not what's in them. We discovered once again, this Christmas that what was in the box held the Little Imp's attention for only moments...but it was the boxes themselves that made her day!

Jeauxdi said...

~*giggle*~ They are too cute!

Dee said...

Nothing like a box for fun, drawing all over them too is a favorite for my girls, a moveable easel.

Jen said...

So glad the kids had fun in the boxes! You're so right about the toys... it always seems that they're most fond of the inexpensive things!