And so, Parker

~ Liz A
May 12, 2021 – Puzzling
May 13, 2021 – It depends which end is up

Don flew up to St. Louis last Tuesday, leaving me to enjoy a solo sojourn to the reopened Austin Public Library where I picked up a reserve book, which included Maura Ambrose, with whom I took a dye workshop back in 2014 …

Then on to Barnes & Noble to pick up a Mother’s Day gift from Meg, which has a great opening …

“These holes make me happy”

And after perusing the $5 sale table, I picked up a puzzle for my play date with Parker on Thursday …

While I’m usually not a huge fan of media tie-ins per se, I do appreciate how they connect kids with classic playthings: puzzles, games, books, and imaginary play … which is to say, storytelling. And besides, $5 … how could I resist?

Anyway, when I picked up Parker, a picture fell out of her backpack as I strapped her into the car seat …

“I love your flower!”

“That’s not a flower, Nana. That’s a mermaid” …

Well, of course it is. Silly me.

16 thoughts on “And so, Parker”

  2. This is great! I’m with you on the media influenced grab for children’s buying dollar. That said, my great niece is ALL ABOUT those short-squat Disney princesses and she tells amazing stories with them, most often including Rapunzel along with the others.
    Her mermaid is a bundle of creative joy! You remind me of my daughter’s “Burger and Fries” pic.
    Enjoy your time with the delightful reading materials. I think of you as I plan how I need to clean-up and repair clothing of my old Raggedy Ann doll.

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  5. That is the best mermaid flower ever. If I could just get one to grow in the garden…. I have Making a Life, although haven’t read the whole thing yet. It’s one of those books I dip in and out of. Curious what you think about Mending Life. Love the connection between the titles.

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    1. your comment put an idea in my head … that we should look for mermaid flowers on our next visit to the Wildflower Center

      And ah ha! … I hadn’t made the title connection, which has me shaking my head (how did I miss that?) …

      I doubt I will learn much from Mending Life, but it is a lovely thing to look at, beautifully designed and thoughtfully presented … I borrowed Making a Life from the library and will consider as I read it whether it merits buying a copy to place on my bookshelves (which are over-full, but that has never stopped me in the past … ha)

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  6. Parker’s mermaid is wonderful with her wild hair and unique body scales. I love how children express themselves with their art. She will love seeing her mermaid in patchwork Des her mermaid have a name?

    One of my grand kids favorite games, when I was with them. was timed drawing: We used an old fashioned kitchen timer, usually 15 minutes, and would draw away. Many a time I took wild guesses as to what they drew and was often corrected but it was such fun seeing what they were trying to depict and lest you think it was a one way guess, oftentimes Rowie and Wolf formerly known as Spence, would guess at what I drew as well!

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    1. This gave me a chuckle … I can just hear my grands commanding “Alexa, set timer 15 minutes” (and honestly, I do wish there was a way to program the blasted thing to only respond if you speak gently and say “please”)

      PopPop is the drawing and painting guru in our extended family … I get to be the audience … it’s all great good fun

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  7. LA – I so smiled when I read the mermaid tale – and yes so beautifully rendered and immortalised on the patch. Cheers. B

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  8. Hoping Parker loved seeing her patch. I was with you on the flower, then travelled with you upside down to work it out. Perception is everything, plus imagination.

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    1. it was fun seeing her compare the 2016 cloth to the 2021 cloth … she was particularly intrigued by birthday patches (where is Lolo, where is Griffin?) … and she is now calling the 2021 “my cloth”

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