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You guys! I had an I Spy epiphany just now as I was changing the kids’ sheets (and gathering library books). I cannot believe it hasn’t occurred to me before this moment, but Leo’s room is a veritable I Spy book waiting to happen. This is especially fitting because Leo was obsessed with I Spy and Usborne 1001 Things to Spot books from the time he was about 18 months old until he learned to read. He used to call them “Spot It” books and anyone who entered our home during those years was approached by Leo with a Spot It book in hand. Our Spot It book collection is taped and tattered from so many readings. The 1001 Bugs to Spot book pictured below is actually one of our Instant Dump Classics, and served as the inspiration for Leo’s bug-themed 2nd birthday party (at which an unwelcome bug- the belly bug appeared). I’ve read that book so many times that I bet I could still find all the click beetles and hairy weevils in record time!
It could not be more apt that Leo now resides in a Spot It book of his own creation!
So here’s the back story: I am one of those people who is happiest in an organized environment. Friends always tell me my house is clean but, truly, it’s just organized. If you performed a white glove test, I’d fail miserably but everything tends to be in its place. When stuff is everywhere, I feel unsettled. At the end of the day, I like to sit down with my book in a room with stuff in its place, otherwise I cannot concentrate. Call me anal, call me Type A, call me OCD… this is just the way I am and, thankfully, so is Schizz. Leo, however, is not. He is a tornado full of boy. He is an inventor, a creator, a collector, a writer, and an artist. As such, one typically needs to clear a path when you enter his room or else risk injury. There is stuff everywhere. I could not exist in a room like his, but this is not my room. In his eyes, this stuff is treasure, and the piles are important, hard-sought collections. I might see trash, but his eyes see inventions, notes, ideas, big plans. I try to be understanding and we compromise. At the day’s end, I want a clear floor in case anyone needs to be up in the night, and once a week he is asked to go through and recycle or trash what is no longer important to him. It is not a coincidence that this day coincides with the day I clean the sheets and gather books for our next library trip. I need to be able to move around in order to change his sheets!
Today is that day, and so Leo did what he always does: he picked up the piles and random things and but them on his dresser and his bookcase so that I could maneuver through his space. This is one of many compromises Leo and I have made with each other. Today, as I passed his bookcase, I was struck by how much it looked like a page from one of his beloved Spot It books:
There’s quite a bit to spy in here, folks!
And that was my epiphany. Of course Leo lives in a Spot It book! So I mentioned this observation to him and he erupted into a fit of giggles and said he’d make a Spot It page for you guys in Leo’s Lounge. Make sure you head on over there and play- it will make his day!
In case you live with an I Spy/Spot-It addict, here are Leo’s favorite titles:
1001 Bugs to Spot (This was the one that started it all, folks!)
1001 Things to Spot in Fairyland
1001 Things to Spot in the Sea
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All of us have moments in our lives that test our courage.
Taking children into a house with a white carpet is one of them.
~Erma Bombeck
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*FTC Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Basically, if you click on these links and make a purchase, I will receive small commission (we’re talking cents, not dollars). We recommend what we love here, folks.
Caitlin Fitzpatrick Curley
Cait co-hosts The Homeschool Sisters Podcast and is co-founder of Raising Poppies, a community for parents of gifted and twice-exceptional children. Cait is also founder of the Family Book Club at My Little Poppies, a fantastic community of book-loving parents and the Gameschool Community at My Little Poppies, a vibrant community of gameschoolers.
Cait is a contributing writer for Simple Homeschool. Her work has also appeared on The Huffington Post, The Mighty, Scary Mommy, GeekMom, and many others. You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram
and G+.
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