Ball Crawl

Were you to walk into our living room right now, or anytime in the last few months, you would see a cuboidal, fabric-walled tent sitting between our living and dining rooms. Look a little closer, and you would (or at least, any parent in this day and age would) be able to pick out the fuzzy red profile of Elmo from Sesame Street. And, if you were there at just the right time, you might hear some satisfied giggles and thumping feet coming from inside. This is Brynna's miniature ball crawl - a Christmas gift from her grandparents.


Brynna's favorite activity in here is to be hoisted in through the portal in the roof, then dance around inside while someone shakes the everloving out of the tent - causing a small blizzard of red, blue, and yellow plastic balls. Like a rodeo, the real measure of this activity is how long she can keep her feet before falling down. Eight seconds is pretty good. Second favorite is to have someone hold her by the ankles upside-down and get lowered in, head first, and pluck balls out like some sort of crane. That one is limited largely by the upper body strength of whoever's doing the lifting. I can manage about five lifts before my shoulders start to tremble. Her third favorite is to pass one or more balls out through the several port holes in one wall, then have a ball returned - first in this hole, no in this hole, this one, over here, now this one, etc. After five or six teases I usually let her have it, because I want her to keep enjoying her self.

My favorite activity? Shaking the tent makes Brynna's hair stand on end!