Puzzle Please

The other day, Alison asked me if I wanted to play with her. Like a good mom, I dropped what I was doing and said, "Of course I do!"

We put a puzzle together. That led to another puzzle. And then another. And before you knew it, we had nine puzzles laid out in a colorful pathway along the family week.

It's not that we're puzzle freaks or anything. The puzzle boxes have been stacked up neatly, ignored for months. But circa Puzzle No. 6, as we passed pieces back and forth and, well, puzzled over where this one should go and whether we'd lost a piece, Ali murmuerd, ""I like hanging out with you like this, Mom."

That easily got me through Puzzle Nos. 6-9. In fact, I wish we had a couple more. As Alison pointed out, we do have room.

It took us a couple of weeks to finish them all. Along the way we had help from Alex and Hannah and even a little bit from Dad. We finished the last one tonight. Today's ice day helped. She was off all day. I got released at 2 p.m.


We're going to snuggle a little bit now and I'm going to hope the whole city is shut down tomorrow and no one has to go to work.

If I get to stay home tomorrow, I don't know that I'll tear up the puzzles and start all over again just to keep her engaged with me instead of the television or the Wii.

She beat us both at SlapJack after dinner. Maybe I'll teach her euchre...