Trapping

You know what I love? You know what makes me feel lighthearted and fancy free and oh-so-breezy? When Isaac says, “Mama? Don’t come in my room, okay?”

Fortunately, neither of my kids is particularly good at keeping secrets yet. Although I don’t how long Isaac could have kept this particular secret. Maybe only until someone walked into his room and punctured their foot on one of the couple of dozen or so industrial nails he’d masking-taped to the floor. Tips upward. Ready to thwart all intruders. “But it’s my trap,” he said, in response to my, “Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. No.”

Maybe it’s me, but sometimes, there’s just no room for a little bit of flexibility. Sometimes, things are just a bad idea. Sometimes, you have to take all the sharp, pointy, industrial nails off your floor right now, because there is creativity, and there is stupidity (not to mention liability), and I know which side of the line I would like to be on. Even as I admire his ingenuity. Even if I'd love to see him take out a warthog.

Because I am a terrible mother, I insisted on him taking down his trap. And because I have at least a shred of common sense, I took it down for him when he stalked away huffily. But of course I took pictures first, because, seriously? His trap was amazing.