Oh come on, you knew it was only a matter of time before I got Waldorf-y on you.
A real nature table wasn't going to fly with our particular collection of felines. But the addition of that console table behind the sofa earlier this year (yes there is a reason I haven't posted any more about the entryway. And no I don't want to talk about it. Ahem.) opened up a shelf in one of the bookcases. So I thought I would use it as a space for my girl to keep her "treasures"--the rocks and flower petals she picks up outside, the little clementine seeds that she can't be talked out of holding on to.
I thought this would help with my ongoing dilemma about not wanting to be a humorless mom who ruthlessly gets rid of stuff my girl isn't finished with yet, but also not wanting to be surrounded by visual chaos.
It also enables her to take responsibility for keeping track of these things. Because goodness knows I don't want to be on the wrong end of the question, "Mommy, where's my white rock?"
("No, the OTHER white rock. Yes YOU DO know where it is! You DO TOO")
And she's actually doing pretty well with this. She'll take out these beetle carapaces she recently found and draw them (funnily, she is committed to strictly accurate scientific illustration, and will only draw them life-size), then return them to the drawer when she's done.
The wooden chest is from IKEA a while back, but I don't think they sell it anymore. It seemed a little silly to label the drawers with words, so I cut out bits from magazine photos and tucked them into the frames, just so they wouldn't go naked.
The microscope is this one. I give it a C+. What we really need is a couple of hand lenses.
I put the grownup nature guides nearby, too, in case we need more information. And I meant to add the binoculars, too, but I could only find the case. Hmmm, what's that saying about "A place for everything...."?
Anyway, here's hoping this summer brings lots of additions to the treasure chest.
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