Laying the Groundwork

Now that I’m a big girl I get a lot more freedom to explore the house on my own. I no longer spend all my time trapped within the confines of my baby zone. However that doesn’t mean I don’t use my baby zone anymore. In fact, I use it every day.

The baby zone is where most of my toys are stored. With it’s cushioned floors and central location in the living room, it’s the best place to play. I love playing in my baby zone and those cushioned floors are a major selling point. What makes them so cushy are my interlocking foam floor tiles. These would be a great feature in any baby zone.

The existence of the foam tiles has established a bit of a routine for mommy and I. Every night the foam tiles need to be pulled apart and stacked neatly in the corner, and every morning they need to be set up on the floor again. This has become as much a part of our day as breakfast and playtime.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re wondering why we don’t just leave the foam tiles in place all the time. The reason is that our cats have decided that foam makes an ideal scratching post. If we’re not there to keep an eye on things, the foam tiles get destroyed rather quickly. Foam doesn’t stand much of a chance against sharp claws.

I’m a very good girl and a super helpful peach. For as long as I have been able to walk on my own, I have been helping mommy set up the foam tiles every morning. I bring the tiles over to mommy, one at a time, and mommy sets them in place. Then I help lock the tiles together by pressing on the interlocking teeth with my trusty poking finger until they are joined snugly.

Mommy and I have become very proficient at getting the foam floor tiles set up and it takes us no time at all to get the job done. We work very well together and the process is so finely tuned that there is never any confusion and we don’t get in each other’s way. Two heads are better than one, four hands are better than two, and work feels less tedious when you’re in good company.

Lately I have been trying my hand at helping mommy take the foam tiles apart at the end of the day. This is a bit more tricky as they lock together very well and it’s not that easy to pull them apart. It’s probably because I do such a good job of poking the interlocking teeth together.

In order to pull the tiles apart, you have to hold two of them in your hands. They are large and unruly and two are difficult for me to handle. Mommy has been showing me a technique where she uses her foot to hold down one tile and then pulls up the adjoining tile with her hands, separating them with one smooth pull. Mommy makes it look so easy.

I have been trying the one foot technique but it’s not as simple as it looks. You have to know where to put your foot and where to pull. It’s not as obvious as it sounds. Then you need to apply just enough pull to get the tiles apart, but not so much that you knock yourself off balance.

Keeping your balance during this procedure is deceptively difficult. Placing one foot on the foam tiles throws off your center of gravity. Pulling on the tile you’re stepping on can quickly cause a problem. It’s easy to go plunkers if you’re not being careful.

I’ve been getting better at pulling those foam tiles apart but they still give me trouble sometimes. I’m much better at helping mommy stack them in the corner. Things go more smoothly if mommy separates the tiles and hands them to me one at a time. I then carry them over to the corner and stand them on end next to each other in a somewhat neat fashion.

There’s a bit of room for improvement but mommy and I are starting to find our groove for the end of day tear down routine. It’s not as smooth as the morning set up routine yet, but we’re getting there. I’m sure we’ll be just as efficient with it in no time. It is something we practice every day.