Gearhead Mom

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Sy the Stevie Nicks Wanna-Be

Posted by Missy W. @ 1:00 PM

We have this kooky, converted attic room with sloping ceilings, 1980’s skylights and lots of beige carpet on which to goof around. My favorite part of the room is that the insulation was put in backwards. Due to this quirky design flaw, the room gets mighty warm on summer days. Rog got this huge portable AC unit that does a decent job cooling the room down to a notch below the sunbathing-on-the-equator-at-noon feeling. Sy and her pals love the “fan,” as they call it. Sy begs me to turn on the beast, then runs and gets her play silks and dances like crazy in front of the AC. She looks like a miniature Stevie Nicks, whirling around with her scarves whipping through the air.

The play silks are some of my favorite “low-fi” toys. You don’t need batteries, they are easily squished in the diaper bag as you head towards Grandma’s on a plane, and all they require is some form of imagination. I have a few old scarves that I put in Sy’s dress up box next to her play silks, but she tends to ignore them and go for her silkies. I think she likes the simple, bright colors and gets a kick out of how easily they fly through the air. I can’t imagine why she’d prefer these to my circa 1989 purple paisley scarves. Already a fashionista at such a young age.

I’ve even seen them in “Seasons” color packages. I can just imagine our five year old neighbor performing a one-girl play simply entitled, “Winter into Spring,” using nothing but silkies and a bucket.

Snapshot:

• I am afraid to wash them since they are 100% silk. I guess it’s just like a patina that gets better with age?
• Again, because they are silk, they do tear. None of the kids seem to mind and the neighbors have had theirs for three years and they look gloriously ragged as they are made into flags, dresses, boat sails or just gleefully dragged through the mud.
• It seems expensive for a dress up scarf, but like I said, Sy always goes for these first. We play with them daily in some form or another.

Side Note:
I am super in love with just about everything Sarah’s Silks creates. They make these totally cool Play Canopies, too. Our neighbors have one and Sy just dives right on in when she steamrolls through the door. Because it’s so big, they have it wrapped around their children’s play kitchen. It’s such a great way to make the area magical and inviting. I like to sit in there and make a cuppa tea, too. They change out what is under the canopy from time to time; before the play kitchen they had the doll house in there. It’s just so cozy and separate, I always find myself longing to dive in. The price tag ($99.00-ish) keeps me from getting one for our house, so I just settled for the smaller version in polyester from Ikea, but I have to say, I find the Sarah’s Silks version far more fabulous. Check out the garden-themed one. How much would you have loved that when you were wee?

Share: Email   |     |