We had all been in the house for a little bit too long. Too many rainy days. Too many illnesses in our home. Not enough moving. Not enough fresh air. And, then, a bunch of large Amazon boxes arrived with some furniture we had purchased, packed with several styrofoam sheets. Trust me when I say that this was not a good combination.
Watching Justin unpack these four large boxes in our entryway, I could see the boys glances fixed on the prize. They couldn’t help themselves. All three of them wandered closer to the action, and I made my way into the kitchen to start dinner, hoping Justin would manage the situation. “Just walk away,” I told myself.
And then, it happened. I heard that dreaded sound – the pops and cracks of styrofoam breaking. The sound made me cringe inside, both because I hate that noise, and because I knew that the inevitable was happening.
My three boys had the time of their lives demolishing these sheets of styrofoam and, consequently, covering the floor in snow-like debris. They were giggling, shrieking with joy, and probably insanely surprised that they were getting away with this behavior and, thus, relishing it.
The aftermath wasn’t pretty.
We’ve all experienced some level of this madness at one point. Whether it’s because you’ve had a long stretch of illness in your house, or because the weather has been cold and wet, or because of an injury, it never goes well when kids are housebound for too long. I saw it happen on Monday night – my kids were acting like caged animals.
There is a reason we all need to move our bodies. There is a reason we all need fresh air to remain healthy, happy, and sane. These reasons are particularly evident with kids. Sometimes though, when circumstances keep you homebound, kids are going to find other ways to let that energy out. If it comes to that, I say just try to make it fun. Take a deep breath, hand over the styrofoam, and walk away.
