Scene:   Our living room

Time:  Yesterday afternoon at around 5pm.

Participants:  Maya, Ben and Maya’s friend Greta

Activity:   Using a rubber hammer to break open a toy from a McDonald’s Happy Meal (one that made sounds).

This happened after they’d spent time playing Super Mario Bros on the Wii.   Yes, video games are fun, but nothing beats cracking one of those toys apart and dissecting the insides.    Seriously.

This is the kind of stuff that keeps me from feeling I need to regulate time on the TV or computer or the Wii.   All our video games get played in spurts.   Before we went to Florida we were playing Mario Kart Wii a lot.   No one has touched it since our return.   Super Mario Bros gets played intermittently.   Angry Birds is the same.   But then there will be sewing or drawing or writing or reading or breaking toys (!) all done without any suggestion from me.   And done with relish.

For the record, the dissected toy included two small batteries like those found in a watch (which Ben is keeping in case he needs them in the future) a small circuit board – now in two pieces – and a multitude of tiny plastic pieces which will ultimately be thrown in the trash.

All in a days’ fun.