The curriculum at Spring Kindergarten was quite engaging. The teachers didn’t just cram knowledge into the kids; they focused more on inspiring their abilities. For instance, two weeks ago, when learning to write characters, the teachers taught the strokes and then had each child go home to study how to write their own names with their parents. This exploratory approach helped the kids grasp the structure of the characters, so later on, the teachers wouldn’t need to teach every single character—they’d learn to mimic and write others on their own.
Of course, this writing course was just a brief introduction. These little ones weren’t ready to spend all day hunched over desks. After sparking their basic writing skills, the teachers moved on to more fun activities. Take the handicraft class that started this week—it was designed to boost the kids’ hands-on abilities and was a huge hit. Xixi especially loved it. Almost every day, right after coming home from kindergarten, she’d start looking forward to going back the next day.
Under the guidance of Teacher Shen, who was great at all sorts of crafts, Xixi and the other kids felt like they’d entered a whole new world. On the first day, Xixi brought home a heart folded from red paper, which her awful dad “plagiarized”—Yang Yi took a photo and sent it to Murphy without telling her Xixi had made it! On the second day, Xixi brought back a big piece of cardboard with colorful paper scraps and watercolor pens forming trees and flowers. On the third day, Xixi brought home something to play with Dad and Mom, who was temporarily staying over: a handmade phone made from two paper cups and a cotton string, taught by Teacher Shen. Not understanding how it worked, Xixi was overjoyed, showing off her “magic whisper” trick to Mom.
On the fourth day—yesterday, finally the weekend—Teacher Shen demonstrated in class and sent the kids home with instructions, assigning a parent-child project: Mom and Dad had to work with their little one to make a cloth doll from discarded fabric at home. Thank goodness for this small task, or Xixi would’ve pestered Dad all weekend to go to kindergarten and play with Teacher Shen.
Murphy, the three-year-old at heart, was really into Xixi’s handicraft project. Last night, she eagerly prepared the materials. She dug out a bib Yang Yi had bought for Xixi but never used because Xixi wasn’t a baby anymore. It was 100% pure cotton, soft to the touch, and a light pink—pure and elegant, perfect for making a doll. For the stuffing, Murphy didn’t want to use medical cotton. Instead, she mischievously ripped open Yang Yi’s pillow and grabbed a handful. She even snickered, running over to ask Yang Yi if he knew where she got that cotton. Yang Yi had no choice but to discipline her.
Without a pillow, that night they truly had to share one—Yang Yi slept on Murphy’s pillow, and Murphy slept on Yang Yi… ahem! It’s worth noting that Yang Yi didn’t have any sewing supplies at home. Though he was a literary killer who could embroider in his mind, he couldn’t actually do it. Spider-Man and Kick-Ass could make their own clothes, but Yang Yi couldn’t. When his clothes tore, he’d just toss them and buy new ones—never thought about mending. So his pillow couldn’t be fixed, and the next day he had to find a place to buy needles and thread for Murphy and Xixi’s project.
Yang Yi had no idea where to buy sewing supplies. Luckily, he could ask Ding Xiang, who lived frugally and mended her clothes to keep wearing them. “Brother Yang, is it Xixi’s clothes that are torn? Give them to me—I’ll fix them in my dorm and bring them back,” Ding Xiang offered kindly, trying to save him money since there were many customers on the weekend. “No need to buy needles and thread—you won’t use them again, what a waste!” After learning the real reason Yang Yi needed them, Ding Xiang wanted to lend him her own, but Yang Yi politely declined. He didn’t want needles or thread—he just wanted to know where to buy them.
After some hassle, Yang Yi finally bought the needle box, pink thread, and a new pillow Murphy wanted that afternoon.
Finally, it was time to start making the cloth doll. Yang Yi looked at the excited Murphy and kindly reminded her, “Murphy, you can’t do all the steps yourself. This is a parent-child project—you need to let Xixi join in.” The little girl, who had been crouching nearby, eagerly nodded, blinking her big eyes. “Mommy, I want to play too.”
It wasn’t just Xixi who wanted to play. Seeing the cotton fluff, the three kittens perked up their tails, circling curiously, watching their owners’ reactions and looking for a chance to sneak in a paw. But Murphy shooed them away warily. She spread out the instructions and pointed step by step. “Of course Xixi will join in. But Xixi, Mommy has to tell you—you can’t touch the needle. The sewing has to be done by Mommy or Daddy. You help Mommy, okay?” “Okay!” Xixi replied happily. She didn’t care what she did, as long as she could be part of it.
“Do I have to? I’ll just keep the cats away,” Yang Yi said, waving his hands. Threading a needle was something for girls and Dongfang Bubai, wasn’t it? He had a way to deal with Xiao Hui, Duo Duo, and Xiao Guai. He pulled out the catnip toys he’d bought a few days ago—small plushies with catnip bags inside, a set of three. He tossed them out. At first, the kittens didn’t notice. Only the restless Xiao Hui glanced over, but the toys didn’t seem as appealing as the cotton fluff. Then Duo Duo, with its keen nose, sniffed something. It scampered over to the nearest toy and sniffed. Instantly, Duo Duo’s cat pupils widened from slits to big round beads. With a “meow,” it pounced, biting and clawing. It wasn’t treating it like an enemy—after a good chew, it twisted its body, rubbing every part of its round face against the catnip toy. Soon, each toy had found its owner, getting thoroughly mauled in a scene too messy to watch. Anyway, the three little ones were too busy to bother Yang Yi and the others.
But Murphy still assigned Yang Yi a task. “No way. Teacher Shen said Mom, Dad, and the kid have to make the doll together. How can you skip the homework, Yang Yi?” Murphy teased, watching his flustered expression. “Come on, take this bib and trim off the rough edges.” Yang Yi had no choice but to sit down. Luckily, it was just scissors—something sharp he could handle. He gripped the center and zipped the scissors around, cutting off all the protruding parts, leaving an oval piece of fabric. Murphy wasn’t idle either. She rolled the cotton into strips, and Xixi mimicked her, helping out. Following the diagram in the instructions, they stacked the strips and rolled them into a firm, nice round ball. “It’s a bit big. The instructions say about three centimeters in diameter. Ours is bigger, but that’s okay—we’ll make a bigger doll!” Murphy laughed, talking to Xixi, who was curiously poking the ball. “Great! Let’s make a big one—I love big dolls!” Xixi replied happily.