Call Me Crazy

Ok, I realize that writing this post is just asking for people to make fun of me, but I just have to get this off my chest.

This puzzle book bothers me.

It just happens to be one of the things that Harper plays with on a daily basis, and the more we play with it, the more it bothers me. Why, you ask?

Because, for starters, the cover of the book is misleading. Inside the book there are pages with little cut-outs and your child is supposed to find which piece goes where. So, there is a bird that may go by a nest, a car that may go on a road, a cow that may go next to a calf etc…but, nowhere in the book is there a rabbit. Or a carrot. There are a total of 16 puzzle pieces and none of them is a rabbit. Why did they use a rabbit on the cover of the book? Why didn’t they just use a pig or a tractor, both of which are included in the book as puzzle pieces?

Another thing that bothers me is that on one two page layout, one puzzle piece could be used more than once. So, for instance, on the left page the sun piece fits in the page because it goes with the sunglasses. But then, on the right page it also fits at the top because the sun is in the sky like an airplane. What. The. Hell? I mean, couldn’t they have just let the airplane fly alone in the sky? You don’t necessarily need the sun piece to complete the picture, right? So, my problem with it is, I can’t have both pages side by side completed because I’m always missing one piece! It drives me crazy!

I think that may be the only problems I have with this book, but only time will tell. Like I said, the more we play with it,the more it bothers me. I just try to pretend like it’s no big deal in front of Harper, but really I’m just itching to put that damn thing away.

We’ve played with that book so many times that he knows each piece by heart. He can even find each piece by just the shape of it. We tested him.

First, we put all the pieces upside down, so that he can’t see the colored side…then, we asked him to get the sun, or whatever…and he can do it. He knows every single piece.

“Here’s the sun, momma!”

Then, he finds where the sun goes and pops it into it’s spot. Except, wait…it could go either here on the left page, or here on the right. After a moment of deliberation he decides the sun goes in the sky with the airplane…and I just move a little to my left so that I can’t see the page with the missing sun piece…