Fly Away

The school-age boys have been making and flying paper airplanes every day for months.  It started in the spring as a morning activity  before school.  They would make various paper airplanes and then test them in the hallway.  Their favourite planes would then accompany us on our trip to the bus stop – taking flight along the way.

Now they continue to make paper airplanes and fly them across the deck when we are outside in the yard.  Then one day last week a plane accidentally landed on top of the sunshade and stayed there.

The boys wanted to take a stick and poke it off – I nixed that idea due to concern that the sunshade could be damaged.  I suggested that we wait and see what would happen.  They reluctantly agreed and the plane stayed there for the rest of the day.

The next morning the plane was on the ground.  They boys thanked me for getting it for them.  I told them I had not done it so they asked if my husband or son had.  No again.  Just then a gust of wind blew through the yard and the sun shade began to sway.

“The wind did it!” the boys shouted in unison.  A new game began.  They purposely throw their planes up onto the sunshade.

Then they wait.  Sometimes it takes a long time.  Sometimes they make up chants to ‘make the wind come’ — the girls like to join in for this too.  Eventually a breeze will lift the sunshade;

Occaisionally it takes a few tries before the wind is successful in releasing the plane from the sunshade and guiding it to the ground.

Last evening there was a wicked thunderstorm.  The children would have been so excited had they been here to watch the sunshade.  I watched — at least until I couldn’t take it any more, donned my raincoat and headed out to release the ropes and bundle the sunshade safely away.  No paper airplanes in sight.