b ~ Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”

Every month the kids come for LEGO club. All is quiet while the snacks
are consumed, then they let loose. I present them with a building
challenge, and immediately they are off.

There is so much energy and enthusiasm zinging and pinging round the
room that I wish I could bottle it, sip from it when I need it most.
They banter back and forth with ideas, compare color choices and
bricks. All the while we are accompanied by the scritch, scritch,
scritch of a hand digging through a bin searching for the perfect
piece.

During this time I go into mother mode. I nod encouragement and put
stray, unused pieces back into the bins. My body goes on autopilot;
after years with a LEGO obsessed child, it knows just what to do. I am
soothed by the repetitive motions and quietly take delight in their
joy.

After our time is up, everyone wants to rush forward with their
creations. Each child grabs a card and starts filling out their own
name and title of their work. Their masterpieces will stay on display
in the Library until our next meeting. I never need to ask what it is,
that information always comes forth in a great big rush. Often the
name is at least ten words long, with an equally long subtitle–just
so they are sure that you know exactly what they intended to build.
Some children prefer simple one word titles, as if it were so obvious
it could never be thought of as anything else but that.

They do not lack imagination or vision, these kids. Each time they
take seemingly simple pieces and put them together in weird and
wonderful ways. I never cease to be amazed.