spalding-watson.com

While Mia and I were eating dinner in Florida last week, a nice gentleman approached us and asked if he could make a balloon animal for Mia. I agreed and he made a cute balloon dog for her. She was so excited and immediately wanted to know how to make them. I was so thrilled. Sure, she was happy to have the balloon animal, but she wanted more, she wanted to know how to make one! I remember having those same types of questions when I was a kid, and I spent many an afternoon tinkering with objects around the house trying to figure out how they worked or how to make my own.

I’m so excited that Mia is curious about how things work or how to make things, and I’m more than happy to feed her curiosity. So, I promised her that after we returned home to Texas we would learn to make balloon animals. After we got home, we did some research online and we found a great series of videos on YouTube that explain how to make a variety of balloon animals. Next, I ordered some balloons and a balloon pump from Amazon.

The balloons and pump arrived today. Mia and Nichole get home from work and school before I do, so Mia had already opened the package before I got home. In fact, she barely even noticed me when I walked in the door as she experimented with the balloons. I spent a few minutes with her trying to make something with the balloons, but I had to give up and start dinner. Just as Nichole and I were getting ready to serve dinner, Mia said “look what I made!” With no instruction or help, she had made a balloon dog. I was blown away. Through trial and error, she had figured out how to make a balloon dog based on the one she had seen made in Florida. She is definitely my daughter. No questions about it. So many times over the years Nichole has asked me how I learned to do something like fix a toilet or build a fence. My response? “I’ve seen it done.” Perhaps my natural curiosity to learn how things work and my persistent (borderline stubborn) desire to do it myself is taking root in Mia…god help us!

Mia's Balloon Dog

After dinner, Nichole, Mia, and I spent about an hour learning to make a variety of balloon animals. It was so much fun, and we’re looking forward to creating more later this week. Check out our handy work below.