The things we do to our children...


Sometimes I really look forward to the weekends, because it's when I can go (way) off topic on the blog and talk about anything I want.

This past Tuesday I was cleaning up some hard drives and came across several images I had forgotten all about.

When my girls were younger I truly "embraced" the magic of childhood, probably a bit bit more than most. Childhood comes but once and I really wanted them to enjoy it.

Forget the big holidays (like Christmas), I would even run with the "minor" ones as well. Everyone knows that leprechauns are mischievous, so on Saint Patrick's Day the girls would wake up to find pictures turned upside down, cupboard doors left open, and once they even turned our milk green.

As the girls got older they really wanted to catch a leprechaun so we would set traps (using shiny fake gold coins) and one year we even put tape on the floor hoping to stick one of them in place. That was the year I had to get very small socks and shoes to leave stuck to the tape, the girls were so excited thinking they had come soooo close to capturing one.

Here is a picture of one of those traps, notice the "come in free food" sign.


Molly (you can read more about her here and here) was convinced unicorns existed and one year while on vacation she was sure that the woods next to our cottage was a perfect place for unicorns to live so she wanted to stay up and to catch a glimpse of one. I told her to put out some "unicorn mix", I would setup a camera, and we would try to capture one on film.

So Molly made the mix, I set the camera up on the porch, and then I had to get up really early the next morning to do some bad Photoshop work getting the unicorn into the picture.

Now that they are older, they fully realize my culpability in these "magic" events and I am sure there is going to be a price to pay.


(click on either image to view larger and in a new window)

4 comments:

photography by anika alonzo said...

I think these are the sweetest ideas! I'm so gonna do that to my boys :)

Scott said...

It was so much fun to see their eyes light up during these times... I enjoyed the magic just as much as they did.

stacey said...

:) You're such a great dad....definitely one of the 'good guys'!

Andrew Macpherson said...

When you post things like that I resolve to do more for my niece and nephew