Because we're fan-tas-tic parents, we've managed to convince Sam that he can make any toy he wants and do a better job of it than the factories that crank out all of the advertised toys that viewers of Saturday morning cartoons covet the world over. Lately, he's been apprenticing as a ship builder, studying at the elbow of his accomplished father. His bedroom is overrun with a fleet of pirate vessels fashioned out of granola bar boxes, disposable dinnerware, straws, construction paper, styrofoam, duct tape and popsicle sticks. Sam designs each ship's "special features" and draws distinct Jolly Roger-style logos for their sails. The Bloody Eagle is still in dry-dock, awaiting the master builder's return.
What I couldn't figure out for the longest time was why he'd tape his ship "plans" up on the dining room wall for safe-keeping. Then it hit me 
one night while we were watching the Bugs Bunny & Tweety show together: Sylvester studies blueprints posted above a work bench whenever he's assembling some dastardly device or another designed to bring about Tweety's demise. Sam's following in Looney Toons footsteps. Now I find it especially funny to look at his two failed attempts to fit the name Ferocious Wolf across his first boat drawing. You can almost hear Porky Pig saying "Fero - .. Fero- ... Bad Wolf!"
one night while we were watching the Bugs Bunny & Tweety show together: Sylvester studies blueprints posted above a work bench whenever he's assembling some dastardly device or another designed to bring about Tweety's demise. Sam's following in Looney Toons footsteps. Now I find it especially funny to look at his two failed attempts to fit the name Ferocious Wolf across his first boat drawing. You can almost hear Porky Pig saying "Fero - .. Fero- ... Bad Wolf!"The only downside to encouraging Sam's efforts to make better toys than he can possibly find anywhere else is that his imagination is running wild in all toy-related endeavours. Check out this picture of him proudly displaying his letter to Santa this year. In it, he asks for a Megatron transformer... but not just any Megatron tra
nsformer. He'd like Santa to fashion one that shoots cannonballs out of its head. If Sam can envision it, Santa can surely do it. Hhhm. I recall asking for Thumbalina and Spiral Graph and Digger the Dawg--all without special North Pole modifications. Never occured to me to invent a toy to test the talents of Santa's elves. Some fancy footwork will be required to dance around this one...
nsformer. He'd like Santa to fashion one that shoots cannonballs out of its head. If Sam can envision it, Santa can surely do it. Hhhm. I recall asking for Thumbalina and Spiral Graph and Digger the Dawg--all without special North Pole modifications. Never occured to me to invent a toy to test the talents of Santa's elves. Some fancy footwork will be required to dance around this one...In the meantime, it's pretty sweet to hear him talk so enthusiastically about how he's "full of good ideas" about how to build robots and action figures and pirate boats and forts. I love his confidence, his imagination and the little foot to foot dance he does as we haul out the craft supplies to get to work on another project.
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