You know that book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie? It’s a book about giving a mouse a cookie and then how emotionally and physically invested you become in the life cycle of the mouse- helping it eat, drink, nap, and then doing it all over again.

I keep thinking about that book in relation to Fuller and his obsession with cardboard boxes. Fuller has quite the imagination and loves to put it to work making things. And for Fuller, making things always starts with a cardboard box.

A while back, he wanted to make a robot. He found an empty box in the recycling and kept insisting it would be perfect for a robot. So, I gave him the box. Then he wanted paper. And tape. And scissors. And eventually, help.

After putting him off for a few days I had a eureka moment and decided to put together the cardboard box and his plastic screws, nuts, and bolts to make a robot. I cut cardboard, poked holes, and assisted him in “righty tighty, lefty loosey” to put together the robot.

Then a while later he wanted to make an airplane. This too started with a cardboard box. And paper. And tape. And scissors. We didn’t get to involved in that project, because soon Fuller became obsessed with making a TV (this stemmed from an episode of Arthur). Damon had a box that resembled a flat screen, so Fuller became owner of that box. The tape and paper were applied and when Fuller’s hands finished drawing the “show” we were all instructed to check out the weather channel.

His most recent cardboard box endeavor was making a car. I originally handed over a smallish box that allowed Fuller to sit down, but not much else. He poked some holes in it, taped on some paper as doors, and declared he had a car. Then Damon got involved.

The gigantic cardboard box on our front porch was needing to go, so Damon turned a paper craft project to a large scale cardboard craft project. He cut and primed the parts. Fuller painted, Damon glued, and eventually added some seatbelt suspenders (not pictured), and Fuller had a car.

I wonder what he’s going to want to make next? I’ll have to restock the recycling.

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