puzzle-ing

Back in June, Finbar had to have an ambulatory EEG done, which means he had electrodes on his head & no showers for 3 days.

Which, in turn, meant a strict "no sweating" rule.

Which, in turn, meant  "stay-inside-funtime."

So we played way too many video games, watched a few movies, got on the floor to play "marble war," in which one tries to knock down the other's army men w/ just a marble. It's probably more fun than it sounds, & I can tell you all the rules if you're interested.

Anyway . . .

We bought a really cool box full o' puzzles, Disney-style & put a few of 'em together.

So, last night before we watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid, we decided to put together the 500-piece Buzz & Woody puzzle, the biggest of 'em all.

Look at these photos:

















You can't really get a good look here, but just believe me, they are pretty small pieces--500 for a puzzle that measures about 18" x 10."

Notice anything interesting?

How about here?

















Detail of Buzz:


Anyway . . . after about a 1/2-hour I realized that every durn piece is the exact same shape. I mean, there were minor variations, but the same size, the same "2-outies" north & south & "2 innies" east & west (or vice versa). Look back & the photos.

Guess what? This makes a puzzle pretty durn hard to do . . . except for the "edge" pieces & by color, there's no real way to tell 'em apart. You can't just say "I need a piece w/ 3 prongs" or whatever, cuz, I'll repeat, "they are all the same shape."

Frustration followed my realization. Then I simply saw it as a better challenge.

SCHOOL-TYPE TEACHABLE MOMENT ALERT!!!

I note that we makes these discoveries every day, that things that seemed pretty easy are actually difficult. Every once in a while, it goes the other way, but it seems things usually just get more & more challenging.

& we rise to the challenge.

We sit back, take a deep breath, & attack that durn puzzle with a new outlook. We take a look in the mirror & prepare ourselves to work a little harder if necessary.

The renowned author Michael Jordan once title a book I Can't Accept Not Trying.


One of my favorite fictional characters once said, "Do or do not. There is no 'try.'"

Heck, even Woody from the photo below says, "There's a snake in my boot!"

Well, maybe that last one doesn't fit, but the others do.

The 5 of us worked on it (don't tell Cedric, but honesty means I must say he did very little).

(& Aodhan put in only a few pieces.)

(& newly-7 Finbar was more into his Legos.)

(But they all hung around, & we had fun.)

So, Linda & I worked for a while, finished about 10 minutes later than we wanted to. We high-fived as a family, watched some Wimpy Kid, ate some birthday cake, had a good time.

(Yes, this is "old-people" family-time fun.)

LESSON: take the challenge. Make up new challenges when there are none. If you finish 10 minutes late, work harder the next time.

Yeah, life is all about adaptation, acceptance, & a few other words that begin with the letter "A," & this blog entry has taken on a life of its own, but I hope you got something from it.

Completion:



Be cool.