A weekend of balls and packaging

Oh yes, this was the weekend. The weekend of just me and my tot, me-me. Just the two of us. Mommy's at work. In-Laws and friends are tied up. Two feelings come to mind: OH what fun!!!! and OH crap!

I really do look forward to these precious weekends - usually it's these unstructured times when we invent new games and new ways to have fun with whatever stuff is lying around in our house (who knew that those big boxes you get at Costco could be used as a weapon, fortress, basketball hoop, tunnel, shield, sleigh, and a ball funnel). At the same time, I'm exhausted. I get tired just thinking about those hours.

I confess - I have a soft spot when I'm tired(well, at least one...). I'm pretty good at not turning on the Elmo DVD or watching TV and just zoning out. I'm also getting better at getting him to eat right and setting boundaries and all that. No, my weakness is a red bulls-eye named Target. And usually we come home from Target with a new ball cradled in his arms.

We probably have about 40-50 balls at home - ping pong, racketballs, those crazy high-bouncing balls, basketballs, footballs, beachballs - you name it, it's probably sitting in our family room. And for some reason, on this particular Saturday, I was compelled to buy him these mini bouncy balls. My justification? Come on, the little guy is gifted! He's got a decent arching shot already. He's got a 1-inch vertical! Gotta train those laser-sharp reflexes. Move over Yao Ming, here comes Me-ming.

Anyway, of course, the cliche thing happens. He bounces those balls all over the place for about 3 minutes. And while I'm busy lifting sofas to reach the lost balls in those crusty, dusty places, me-me proceeds to spend the next half an hour playing with the packaging. Yes, that stupid plastic thing molded to the shape of the 8 mini-balls (3 of which I already lost). Pressing them in, pushing them out, pressing them in, pushing them out. So, my next brilliant project: forget the toy, I'm going to create a toy brand that packages packaging.

Can't wait for the weekend again.