Once upon a time there was a craftsman named Charlie. Charlie loved working with wood. In fact, he loved working with wood so much that he began making wooden toys and puzzles for others. One day Charlie’s daughter came up to him and asked with pleading eyes, “Dad, I need a play kitchen.”
Charlie looked around at the toy stoves available and thought, “I myself, I can make a toy wood stove for my daughter myself.”
So he went to his shop and drew up some blueprints. He thought about what is required for a play kitchen.
- It has to be sustainable. You know how children are. So she designed it out of wood.
- It has to be safe.So he used non-toxic finishes.
- It has to be educational.So, he painted the burners red for “hot”. Don’t touch the hot burners!
- It has to be imaginary but realistic. So he made knobs that rotate, and marked them to indicate which burner each knob belonged to. He also painted on a clock and a temperature gauge.
At last the toy kitchen was complete and she could give it to her daughter as a gift.
She was ecstatic. She played and played and played with the toy stove. And after several weeks, she began to think: “I need a toy refrigerator to go with my toy stove. Then my toy kitchen will be complete.”
So she came back to daddy with those leaden eyes. Charlie promised that she would make him a toy refrigerator as soon as she could.
Well, you know what “as soon as I can” means. It’s like someone tells you “just a minute” and an hour goes by. So her daughter waited patiently for her new toy kitchen refrigerator. And she waited. And she waited a little longer. Then one day (about two years later) Charlie gave him the new refrigerator. Her wooden toy kitchen was complete. Or was it her?
Obviously, Charlie didn’t think so. Because he went on to create a wooden toy kitchen sink. He made a microwave. He also created a large wooden toy cabinet with storage above and below a counter. After all, you know how those kitchen toys multiply. And as if that were not enough, he also created a dishwasher. Now Charlie’s wooden toy kitchen set had all the appliances any child could want.