* “What do you want for Christmas mom?”

“I would like 48 feet of 2 by 8 pressure treated lumber and some large bags of Miracle Grow potting soil”

The boy’s face goes blank, an eye brow goes up then the forehead furrows and he says “what?”

I have had this same conversation with all three of my boys. I don’t need anything; they can never find the perfume I like even when I tell them where to look and god forbid they try to buy me cloths (shutter) so to make it easy on them I ask for the things I need to make raised garden beds. Lumber and dirt are perfectly good gifts. They have asked for things to use in there hobbies like paint ball stuff and tae-kwon-do sticks. My hobby is guarding I want dirt.

* I spent the day with my niece’s kid’s ages 1 ½ to 9 and this is what I learned.

• The reason kids paint is nontoxic is because the 1 ½ year old is going to try and eat it as soon as the adult that is supervising the painting of ornaments turns her back and that the paint that said 1½ does not eat will end up on the cloths said 1½ year old is wearing so remove the good cloths and replace with old cloths or the good cloths will become the old cloths in short order.
  

• Newly 4 year old kids will paint everything in site so have plenty of rags around. Forget paper towels there aren’t enough of them to stem the mess a 4 year old can make. You need something that can be reused. What I really don’t understand is how that 4 year old can make such a mess and stay relatively clean.
  

• 6 and 9 year olds are at about the right age for painting ornaments.