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Show ! About Chris their favorite stuffed animals! Last Christmas the three children of one of the twins were given a full-size puppet theater by their other grandmother. It was large The three youngsters constructed a train for themselves by enough to be operated by all of them at the same time while standing up. It had scenery, costumes, and puppets for four plays. Downstairs in the basement playroom, their father (my son-in law) tieing the boxes to~ had-set up on trestle tables an elec- gether with string. tric train that covered three-quar- ters of the area. He had landscaped it, working for weeks in his own workshop. There were mountains with*tunnels through them, valleys, streams, bridges with overhead signal lights, railway stations that lighted up, and houses dotted over the countryside. On a separate table he had installed an elaborate switchboard contro! for the whole operation. He showed the boys the purpose of each switch, but I heard him tell them they werenotto run the train unless he was there. Upstairs, her mother and I were showing Eliza how to-operate the puppet theater. Weput her on little chair in front and did a whole play for her. Late that afternoon I went for a walk. The children were playing behind the house. Two of them were inside the packing case ‘that had held the puppet theater. They had turned it on one side and were peeking through the flaps of the cover. The older boy was on his tricycle; behind him stretched a line of boxes tied with string. He was , Saying “chuff-a-chuff-chuff.” I asked the inhabitants of the packing case what they were doing. “Shhh,” the boy said, “I'm the sheriff. Alexander’s the bad man. He just threw a switch, and he’s running away with train full of gold. But my ‘pardner’ and I are going to get him. That’s why we're hiding in this cave.” Eliza held up a coil of rope. I. had seen it earlier around the packing case. “I’m going to lasso him,” she said. And I thought, let this be my Christmas lesson for parents: give children the nicest gifts you can, . but for goodness’ sake, don't throw away the cartons, paper, and string! @ ILLUSTRATION. BY- ETHEL-GOLD Family Weekly, December 25, 1966 5 |