Trares
Getting home in the evening, I’m never quite sure what I’ll walk into.
Maybe a new eatery will have popped up in our living room. Perhaps a Rube Goldberg-esque contraption has been spread out across the kitchen floor. A fort may have replaced our wrap-around couch.
We’ve reached those dog days of summer. The holidays have passed, the camps are all over, and while my wife and I work, Anthony is left up to his own devices (not always literally, either.)
On one hand, we feel kind of bad leaving him to play by himself all day long. On the other hand, when we were kids, we had to figure out ways to entertain ourselves.
And that’s exactly what Anthony has done.
Sure, there’s been TV time, playing on his iPad or breaking into his video games. But more often than not, he’s tapped into his imagination to figure out how to keep himself occupied.
First it was Anthony’s Art Gallery. Over the course of the day, he was hard at work creating original pieces of artwork one by one. There were abstract amalgamations of colors, shapes and lines. Some were pictures of animals, like an elephant cooling off with a spout of water or a “box” turtle — a reptile with a cube for a body. Others were cheeky creations, such as a big blue pitcher made with a scented marker. The captions said, “I smell like fruit punch!”
Anthony hung all of the artwork around the living room, then guided us through the masterpieces like the docent at a museum. We had to tell him which ones were our favorites; I really like the fruit punch one.
Another time, I came home to find another sign in the living room. Anthony’s Sushi was the hottest new joint in town. He had received a play sushi set for his birthday, so made a menu and would serve up tuna, shrimp or California rolls, depending on what we ordered.
The most recent one might be my favorite. Earlier this week, Anthony created a little partition using couch pillows and other structures. On one of the pillows, a sign was taped: Fun Strong Gym. He had brought down our hand weights and push-up handles, yoga mats and foam rollers, laying them out for whoever wanted to get a few sets in during the day.
He even demonstrated how to do a push-up, in case anyone had questions. I had to laugh.
The outsized role mobile devices play in our world makes it easy to fear the worst. Alarmists always warn that kids these days have no imagination, doomed to be mindless zombies staring at their screens all day long.
I invite them to step into Anthony’s Sushi some day. They’re in for a treat.
Ryan Trares is a senior reporter and columnist for the Daily Journal. Send comments to [email protected].
