A Boy’s Valentine Story

One night I was searching Pinterest for cute Valentine ideas for preschoolers. There are only four kids in my son’s class, so I figured I could do something really cute for them. Then, it dawned on me… If I do a super-cute crafty valentine this year for four, what happens when he is in elementary school with 20?

No, I thought… I am not going to be in charge of making his valentines. I decided to use it as a teaching moment. I would teach him the importance of giving a gift to the people who are special in his life.

So, I told him we were going to go on an adventure, looking for gifts for anyone he thought he wanted to give a Valentine to. Fortunately,when I asked him who he wanted to give to, all the kids in his class and his teacher were named among others. Phew.

As soon as he heard the word adventure, he went into his playroom and grabbed a hat. You can’t go on an adventure without a hat. He emptied a suitcase and told me he’d fill it with the gifts he finds.

We set out on our search. He decided his gift of choice for everyone was going to be rocks. He carefully inspected stones along the way, picking through them and discarding any he deemed unworthy. Each rock he chose was selected for a specific recipient.

It only took a matter of about two minutes before he found a stick, suddenly, our world morphed. We were no longer looking for gifts. We were searching for treasure. We turned into the woods and he told me about the “bad guy” who was after the same treasure. The treasure was a special rock for his teacher. It was a “singing golden rock” and there were two of them. He fought off bad guys as we walked through the woods and we barely made it home in one piece.

As he painted his rocks for his friends, he asked me to write down his adventure. I would start a sentence and he would finish it.

This is his story.

Bad Guys and Good Guys

The great explorer, Louis, set forth to find a pair of singing golden rocks. But, lurking in the distance was the evil Lord Cannonball! He too had his eye set on the magical stones.

Louis’s watch navigated the way. He journeyed through the dark forest, collecting stones as he went. With Lord Cannonball on his trail, Louis used his mighty stick to protect his treasures. 

Barely escaping the evil Lord Cannonball, Louis discovered the location of the Singing Golden Rocks. To his surprise, Lord Cannonball followed him! In a daring battle, the courageous Louis fought off Lord Cannonball’s army. 

He returned home, safely, and the people honored him as a hero.

The End.

A Shadowy Encounter

Lately my son has been into his action figures, or as he calls them, “bad guys.” While watching him play with his bad guys, I had a mental image of Batman and Penguin fighting in a dark alley. The theme to this week’s photography challenge is “shadows.”

Using a spotlight in the corner of our living room, Batman and Penguin had a shadowy encounter.

 

Next week’s theme is “drink up!” With the Superbowl this weekend, I shouldn’t have a hard time getting a photo of that.

Other Project 52 Submissions:

1. Made with Love
2. I had a Dream (Missed this week due to power outage)
3. Self-Portrait
4. Shadows