Magdalena Nitla

Over the weekend, my husband was keeping the kids preoccupied with the TV and video games. It’s awesome when they’re engaged and being good boys, allowing me to get some chores done. But when I have extra time, I try to engage them with an activity. I asked a few times if they want to scrapbook with me and when my husband turned the TV off, my older son, Von, said yes.

I brought out my supplies and spread them on the living room floor. While Von was busily looking through photos, my younger son, Casper, grabbed the new bottle of Elmer’s glue, eagerly trying to open it. I asked the kids to pick a background and they chose the green one with the flowers. Casper’s favorite color is green. Von chose the photo where the kids stood outside our house with their lunch boxes wearing their Micky ears.

The photo was taken in the past month, while I was on furlough from work. I was trading the childcare off with my mother-in-law every other day. She had designated one day a week as a day when the kids bring their lunch in lunch boxes. Casper had a box with dinosaurs on it that I found at the Goodwill. Von was jealous of Casper’s box for a long time until I got him a superhero one for Christmas. In addition to snacks, the kids filled their boxes with their favorite toys before we left. Casper had pulled the Mickey ears down from the shelf in Von’s room and put them on. Von followed suit and we headed out the door.

Casper globbed glue on the back of the photo while Von looked through my ephemera and found a picture of a bird that he wanted to add to the page. I stuck down a label and Von used a sharpie to write his name. I added Casper’s. After the photo was pressed down the kids lost interest and I continued decorating. I utilized some pieces of coloring book pages and floral ephemera.

Spring is in the air and I’m already missing the month I had off work to spend so much quality time with my boys.