Forts

What is it with kids and forts?

I don't mean forts with brick walls.

I mean forts that get constructed in the middle of the family room. Forts made of blankets and pillows and dining room chairs.

Even as I type, my caboose kiddo is sound asleep in the family room inside her oh-so-carefully constructed fort. She used 5 blankets, 4 pillows and 4 chairs and a stool. That's a rough estimate.

I remember this fort-fascination from my first go-round at motherhood with Christa's older siblings. They too loved to construct elaborate forts indoors, pulling their blankets and pillows off their beds and taking over my dining room or living room.

Ah, the simple joys of children. Blankets and chairs become a fort. A place to read books. A place that's as much fun when you're by yourself or with friends. You can pretend to be a princess or a pirate. And maybe, just maybe, mom will let you have a snack in your fort. Maybe she'll snuggle in next to you and read a book aloud.

You never know what might happen once you build a fort. And when the blankets get taken down, folded and put away and the chairs are back in place around the dining room table--well, you can always look forward to the next time you get to build a fort.