The Sandbox

Kai is obsessed with digging in the dirt.  Almost every night when we say prayers he says thank you for dirt and sand.  He's often covered in dirt whenever he comes inside, and he often needs extra baths because of his inability to leave the dirt alone.  He's gotten in trouble for digging in the flower boxes, digging in the garden, digging in our neighbors' bushes, and digging in any number of other places without telling me that he's gone off to dig somewhere.

Because of the problem of not being able to keep my eyes on Kai while he's off digging, it suddenly occurred to me that we should build a sandbox behind our house, next to the garden where there's an open patch of grass that nobody's using, and where I could look out three different windows of the house and keep an eye on him.  So I talked to Geoffrey, our househelp who works in the garden and who does odd jobs here and there, and he got to work on it right away.  Geoffrey figured everything out - where to get wood that wouldn't rot during the rainy seasons, where to buy nails, who to hire to bring wheelbarrows of sand - and he built the sandbox in two afternoons.  Kai was elated, and so was I!

Kai was interested in watching the entire process, from staking out the area to clearing the grass to nailing the boards to adding the sand.  He didn't even wait until all the sand was in before jumping in with his digger and starting to dig.  It was so fun to watch his excitement, to hear his constant jabber about Geoffrey building a sandbox, and to see his continued commitment to all things construction.  He's played in the sandbox every day since it was finished last week, and he's been more dirty than ever, but he's been so happy and I've been so relieved just to know where he is all the time!  We can't thank Geoffrey enough for helping us with this project!

using a machete to cut the grass

he stood and watched for a long time 

before I thought to offer him a chair

he looked like a little supervisor :)

he watched for hours, never leaving until 

I made him come inside to get out of the sun

jumping in as soon as he could

digging digging digging

Caleb joined in the fun too

Other kids joined in the fun over the weekend.  Kai appreciates anyone else who also has a love of dirt and the sandbox became a great gathering place for getting down and dirty.  This morning he played out there for a couple hours with Ebenezer, the son of another househelp who's almost the same age as Kai and who has become friends with our kids.  It was adorable to watch these little boys working in the dirt together!

Now when Kai prays at night, he starts with, "Thank you for the sandbox," and continues with any variety of, "And for sand.  And dirt.  And the shovel.  And the digger.  And the other digger.  And the dump truck.  And [fill in the blank]."  Kai isn't the only one thanking God for the sandbox - we are thanking God for it too!