Power Bracelet

I know all of you know by now that I have 3 little girls (8, 6 and 4).  That is how most of my posts start out.  And most of you know that I watch a little boy and his big sister a couple of days a week (ages 4 and 6).  That poor little boy!  He is out numbered, out maneuvered but never outmanned.  This little boy is the definition of little boy (in the good ways).  He loves to run and jump and play outside.  He has come to my house in the morning in Superman, Spiderman and Hulk t-shirts.  When the kids play outside he heads for the sandbox first.  When the girls want to play house (now this is the best!)  he is Peter Parker or Clark Kent, and one of the girls has to be Mary J. or Louise Lane. HE is all BOY!

As a part-time caregiver to these kids, and a stay-at-home mom to my own kids, I like to keep them busy.  We have the zoo pass, and the Metro parks pass.  I have to keep the activities cost effective too!  Sometimes some of the activities are girl biased.  Not on purpose, but usually because the kids have burnt through the activities that I have planned.  One day the kids had been outside in the morning, it was now raining, and the kids had already played legos and were “board”.  I had a headband making kit I had purchased earlier in the summer and the girls wanted to do it.  I asked AL if he wanted to do it and he looked at me like I was crazy. “Of course!  I’ll make it for my Mommy.”  He is such a good sport.  And he made a great looking headband too!

This perticular day I had planned to visit Kitty Deluxe for their 10th Anniversary Celebration.  Now if you don’t live in St Clair Shores you may not know about this place.  It is wonderful.  It is a shop in a small pink house.  They specialize in handmade jewelry.  Cat the owner is a energetic upbeat woman who has a smile on her face, and is super excited to see us.  I don’t frequent Kitty Deluxe as much as I would like to, but have been in there 4 times in the last year.  The girls and I had been in there twice with some friends of ours so the kids could make their own beaded bracelet and charm.  And we went for their 9th Anniversary celebration where the kids got to make a free bracelet.  So I knew what was in store for us, plus Kitty Deluxe was advertising on Facebook too.  I was a little leary about weather or not Al wanted to make a bracelet, but figured we could try it out and see.

We got there and he sat diligently feeding beads on a wire for 35 minutes.  He was really concentrating on what bead to put on now, and the next bead should be the wooden one.  Then that black bead because it is cool.  Then the red one because it feels nice.  He had a reason for every bead.  My 8 year old made her bracelet in 10 minutes.  My two 6 year olds made their in 20 minutes, and my 4 year old daughter wanted me to bead her’s for her so she was done in a minute.  But Al… he didn’t want my help and wanted to do it himself.  And by golly he did it ALL BY HIMSELF (I am saying that in slow mode)!  Cat also had some free pink cupcakes that were delicious (I am told.  I am currently on a cupcake hiatus).

So here is the fun stuff…

We are done making bracelets, we have eaten our cupcakes, and I am perusing the sales tables when I hear “PHEW!  BLAM!  I got you.  I have my power bracelet on and I have super speed.”

My 8 year old says “Oh yeah, well my bracelet has super speed too!  I just caught you!  You have to stop shooting us!”

Al replies “Well, you know what?  My bracelet just changed to invisibility and you can’t see me.  And your bracelet can’t change powers!  See this bead?  It is for invisibility and this bead for super speed, and this one lets me shoot webs, and this one makes me fly, and this one makes me super strong! ”

The lesson of the story?

When making your super power bracelet take your time and pick your power beads accordingly.  The more beads the more powers.  And an imagination goes a long way for entertainment.  Yes this is the same boy that told me about the dinosaur-bite-impregnation-technique! I want to give a big thanks to Cat and the ladies at Kitty Deluxe for making our day special.