Remember this from your childhood?
Weren’t forts awesome?
In my family, the building of indoor forts was reserved for rainy days. This was before we got the “nice” couch – you know the “nice” couch; the one nobody is allowed to sit on unless company is over and even then it is an adults only affair…
But early on, we had a cheap couch along with our other cheap furniture, so when the rain fell hard and being sent outside was not an option, forts were on the agenda and everything was game. I am going to say my sisters and I made some pretty spectacular forts only because I do not have pictures to back it up.
Unfortunately, at some point a “new” couch came into our lives and that was the end of the fort building. Except, we were living in Southern California at the time and there was an entire patio at our disposal along with a plethora of great weather days (and nights). The picnic table and benches soon became beams and load-bearing walls. My sisters and I discovered that piles of discarded materials from the homes under construction behind us were the perfect places to go rummaging around for fort making supplies.
Enough supplies in fact, that we were not only were we making forts, we were making our own personal forts!
The best fort I ever (helped) build was in the company of my Uncle Mike. My Uncle Mike was the sixth and final child of my Grandpa and Grandma Dunston and is only a few years old than I am.
I used to spend summers on my Grandparents farm in Oregon and at some point a guy would show up with bales upon bales of hay which my Uncle Mike and I would be tasked with stacking in the barn.
One year, we didn’t just stack the hay, we did it in such a manner that we ended up with a hay fort. All credit has to go to my uncle. He told me where and how to stack each bale. When we finished the task at hand, there was a small entrance and tunnels you could climb through and up, ending at the top of the haystack, which was surrounded by walls of hay.
That become my (and our) secret spot the rest of the time I was there.
Forts are great for kids because whether they are in the house or in the backyard, it is a moment for a kid to have their own place and be on their own, even if they are just a few feet from mom and dad.
Parents, let your kids build forts. And buy a couch everyone can sit on at any time while you are at it!
Listening to: Victim of Love – Charles Bradley
Jamoosh Interrupted 