The Greatest Blanket Fort of All Time

Newsletter 2021-01-04

There's nothing quite like a fort for keeping out barbarians. But what if the barbarians are already inside your walls? That’s the situation in my house, where my children have been running amok for the last ten years. I knew I should have dug a moat. Now, this uncivilized tribe is building forts of its own. A local organization is hosting a contest for the best blanket fort, and my kids immediately latched onto the idea. The competition combines the thrill of hiding under blankets with the rush of being better than other kids at hiding under said blankets. I can’t think of a better way to spend Christmas break. Unless that way is to build a time machine and stop the barbarians before they broke into my house. I’m sure my kids would have turned out fine growing up in the backyard.

As with anything my kids do together, their first step was to argue. My ten-year-old, Betsy, and eight-year-old, Mae, had wildly different ideas for what constituted a fort worthy of a contest. Finally, I tol…