lego warfare

eil has entered the creation phase. this is the time when passion develops for legos, magnetix; any variation on the erector set of yesteryear. to my great contentment, lego construction turns out to be an ageless thrill which our western society wrongfully and arbitrarily assigns to a needlessly younger audience. unfortunately, as i have disovered, there are two types of lego building: 1) limitless creationism, in which the only boundaries are the confines of one's own imagination; and 2) construction of pre-designed sets. while the set building is capable of yielding pieces of profound magnitude, they require a level of perseverance rarely found among the target demographic. 

which is how i found myself enlisted in the assembly of a birthday gift in the form of a v/stol capable  av-8 harrier aircraft. and while i did have at least the foresight to undertake this task while the baby was sleeping, it was attempted in the presence of both eli and penelope. now, i must explain that assembling a lego set in the presence of children adds a panoply of encumbrances which vastly complicate the otherwise achievable chore. for one, the critical element of time is introduced. instead of methodically completing each step of the provided instructions, the parent must realize that with every passing second, the chances at successful project completion further diminish. as soon as the pocket-sized plastic parts are unpackaged and placed on the working surface, they are in the gravest danger of abscondence, either by willful intention or simply sticking to the underside of a foot or pant rear. the un-distractible children desire to play a role in the project, yet they truly believe the parts will be self-accountable, presenting themselves when their time is at hand like so many newly hatched turtles intuitively finding their way back to the sea. under such extenuating circumstances, the parent becomes like cinematic protagonist diffusing a bomb in it's final 15 seconds of countdown. every precious second is a scramble to build the item while protecting the scattered inventory and simultaneously assigning the children with just enough responsibility that they believe they are actually participating in the process. there are split-second determinations to be made regarding which parts are truly integral to the final product, and where substitutions can be made with parts on hand from other sets. "it's the red wire... no, the white... no the red wire!!" fortunately for everyone, we completed this one with 00:01 left on the clock. there will barely be enough time to wipe the sweat out of my eyes, though... this set can convert from the harrier to a single prop airplane, or a helicopter.

cover me, i'm going back in.