This post was submitted as part of the February “Families, Create!” Carnival, hosted by Dionna at Code Name: Mama and Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children.

The theme for "Families, Create!" this month is Heroes and Heroines, and fortunately for me, Sam and Mikko spearheaded this short film just when I most needed a heroic saga to share:



They decorated the set themselves and did all (ALL!) the fine acting, screenwriting, and directing. I know! I was the terribly amateur cameraperson.

You'll enjoy seeing Mikko's consternation that Sam is being a goofball and ignoring the rules of fine dining, as well as his insistence that the keys are not magic, just regular keys.

This insistence makes me laugh, because recently Mikko has an imaginary friend named Silly Guy. Only, when I made the mistake of calling Silly Guy an imaginary friend, Mikko chastised me and said he was a real friend. I stand corrected!

Here are some of the pertinent facts we have learned about Silly Guy — though, be forewarned — they change daily.

• Silly Guy lives in the air. This is because you have to take a plane to get to his house. Mikko thinks our parents also live in the air for the same reason, which amuses me no end. I like to think of Michigan and Massachusetts now as floating islands with cloud bases. Makes them much more exotic.
• You have to take a bus and a train and a plane to get to Silly Guys's [this is how Mikko pronounces it] house, and the plane leaves in seven minutes.
• Silly Guy lives (sometimes) in New York, on a tower (we presume the Empire State Building, from a Curious George book he loves) and near the Statue of Liberty. In the air.
• Silly Guy owns a 7-Eleven, where you can get all the popsicles you want. Three kinds!
• Silly Guy is blue and white with yellow hair. Sometimes.
• Silly Guy has reindeer and a sled and presents. "Is Silly Guy Santa Claus?" asks Sam. "No," says Mikko. "He has two hats." Duh.
• Silly Guy has his own bouncy house.
• There will be a big surprise birthday party for Aunt Natalie at Silly Guys's house, with LOTS of PRESENTS. [Must be said with enthusiasm and arm gestures.]
• We must look at every map we come across (store directories, weather forecasts, stock reports, GPS results, globes, menus) for directions to Silly Guys's house. If a map flashes across the TV or computer screen, we must pause the image to study it. We also must draw our own maps, which involve lots and lots of lines. Plus some stickers.

Whenever we go out now, Mikko asks us if we can go to Silly Guys's house first, before we run any errands we have planned. He tells us all the fun things that await us with Silly Guy, which I have to admit does sound more appealing than whatever mundane tasks we were contemplating.

I have no problem with Mikko creating his own imaginary world, because I did (um, do) the same thing. I think maybe that's how writers get their start (though I'm not limiting it to writers) — creating characters and asking "What if?" I used to live in my head (um, yeah, still do). I can remember curling up beneath my grandma's desk for hours on a family visit and contentedly crafting a whole dream scenario. Even now, I hate to be so tired that I go right to sleep at night; I love that space between waking and sleeping where I have nothing at all important to do and no one expecting anything from me and can just think up stories in my head.

And, as Mikko's stories about Silly Guy grow more fanciful, it reassures me that the other day, when I agreed with him — "Sure, let's go to Silly Guy's house!" — he gave me a look and said, "Mama, Silly Guy just pretend." As if he was just checking to make sure I knew.

What I love is seeing what Mikko values, embodied in Silly Guy. His friend is someone who has unlimited ice cream, presents, bouncy houses, and airplane rides. I guess to a three-and-a-half-year-old, that's a hero indeed.

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February brought many heroic crafts to the Families, Create! Carnival. Check out some of the wonderful posts from last month's participants below, and be sure to visit Code Name: Mama and Living Peacefully with Children to find out how you can participate in the next Families, Create! Carnival.

• The Artsy Mama made a personalized birthday hat for her son's first birthday. Learn how to make a Hero's Birthday Hat for your hero or heroine with very few sewing skills.
• Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children found inspiration in books for some I-Spy items in her post, I Spy Items - The Last Olympians and The Lost Heroes.
• Megan at Purple Dancing Dahlias found out how one random act of kindness can shower the world in kindness in the book Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed.
• It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Super Kieran! Dionna at Code Name: Mama shares the Superhero Capes she made to celebrate her son's heroic qualities.
• At Z Everyday Things, Mama G made easy and quick Super Zs!, personalized superhero appliques on shirts, for her children. Easy and quick!
• Lauren at Hobo Mama has a son who loves to dream up stories and one heroic imaginary friend. Read her post about Space-Alien Hot-Dog Monster & Silly Guy .
• Heroes are often everyday people. Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children was inspired by the gift of a sock in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, prompting her to make Dobby's Sock as part of her Harry Potter ornaments.
• Galit Breen at Three Little Waves used the book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes as a springboard for a sensitive discussion and a fun origami project for her whole family in her post Families Create: Heroes and Heroines.
• Need a creative gift idea for a toddler or preschooler? Dionna at Code Name: Mama shares a simple Tutorial for a Two-Sided Felt Playmat (one side is outer space, one side is a jungle scene).
• Literature and adventure inspired Mandy @ Living Peacefully with Children to make these Treasure Bags for Imbolc.

Visit Code Name: Mama and Living Peacefully with Children to find out how you can participate in the next Families, Create! Carnival. Our March theme is "Animals" - what animals are your favorites and why? Get creative and share with us how animals are a part of your and your children's lives.