Tents

My house resembles a campsite. Every room that I enter has a homemade tent set up in it, which I am not allowed to dismantle even though I have to squeeze onto the very edge of the sofa to sit down because the rest of it is part of the tent.

Don't get me wrong, I am all for creative and imaginative play but this is taking it to the extreme. Every single cushion, blanket, chair, chair cover, table and anything else that moves has been taken and put to tentmaking use including all the baskets of heavy toys so that they can weight the ends of the blankets. Once they have made the tents, they do not play in them as I would do. If it was me, I would make myself a nice comfortable bed inside the tent and perhaps have a fun snack in there, or read a book inside, or play 'camping' (actually, I wouldn't play camping, because I prefer only to endure camping once or twice a year). But it is not me making the tent, and so whatever suggestions I make as to how to play inside them are met with withering looks that suggest I really don't know what I am talking about.

Apparently the fun is in the building. So why can't they build with lego, which only takes up a small corner of the room? Why does it have to take over the whole house? And why can't I move it once it's built? There will always be some things that I just cannot understand.

As soon as it is warm enough to spend more than 5 minutes outside, I will be able to throw them in the garden and they can tent-make to their heart's delight. While it is still rather chilly on the , no I won't say it but you all know what I mean, I will have to put up with the sprawling encampments that dominate my home.