Shadow Puppets

I rushed home yesterday from work just in time to see both boys into slumber land. Luca was in his ½ hour a day fit before he falls asleep, so I “volunteered” to get Eli into bed. Elijah asked me to crawl into his closet with him. After limbering up, I was happy to oblige.

As we sat talking about Curious George, I noticed his nightlight was casting a sheet of light across the top of his closet. I decided at that moment to introduce him to the concept of shadow puppets.

“Hey Elijah, look up there. What do you see?”

I flattened my hand out and wiggled my pinkie in the classic dog shadow. To help him along, I barked several times.

“It’s a duck!”

Well, it did look like a duck. But I said, “Try again. Woof woof woof. What is it?”

“A swan!”

Alright. That didn’t work. I linked my thumbs and spread my fingers, making a bird shadow.

“It’s a bear!”

“How can you think that’s a bear? It’s a bird.”

“It’s a bear.”

Either I was a terrible shadow puppeteer or Eli wasn’t getting the concept. I tried one last one. I made a “V” with my fingers and hopped along the ceiling.

“What’s this one? He has long ears, hops, and is the non-religious symbol for Easter.”

“It’s a penguin!”

I kissed him on forehead and went downstairs, worried that I had somehow screwed up my son again.