Puzzles with Mathias

Mathias is a 5-year-old little moppet, small for his age, with sandy brown hair mantling his round head. Inset there like stones are eyes the color of pewter curtained by dark lashes which put a new meaning on the term windows to the soul. Inside his soul are planted perseverance and concentration for anything he puts his mind to. He is diligent, precise, and careful. As the youngest child in the Robles family, he often has to entertain himself alone. One of his favorite pass times is floor puzzles.

After waking up and dressing in an insect-printed t-shirt (often pants are entirely forgotten) he rifles through two cabinets stuffed with all sorts of puzzles. Upon choosing the specific one he desires he dumps the pieces onto the tile floor and begins turning them over. Most people do puzzles quietly, engrossed in connecting one piece to another. However, lost in his own world Mathias wiggles his fingers together rapidly moving his little hands up and down. “Booshes” are heard as he articulates sound effects for the characters in the puzzle. Random squealing, humming, and other odd noises are all part of the operation.

If you happen to pass him while he is spewing saliva in his excitement you will receive one of two facial expressions. The first is Mathias’s exaggerated smile. This smile is always contagious and will probably end in a giggle. Starting at the corner of his lips the smile spreads up to his eyes causing them to disappear under smile wrinkles that look like the tail of a peacock. All his teeth show and his nose scrunches up into a button. Of the two expressions, this is the most desirable.

The second appearance is a side-long glance that makes you want to laugh until you cry or crawl into the floor. His eyebrows move simultaneously toward the middle of his forehead. His eyes emit a glare that seems to verbalize his disturbance. The corners of his mouth turn down into a semi frown and his head is cocked to one side. If he could maintain this visage for more than a few seconds he would appear menacing but it always melts into a silly smile and he resumes his task.

Mathias’s puzzle-making never ends with the first puzzle; the process continues until he has conquered at least four. The little lad just continues his booshing, wiggling, and squealing. When he has completed as many puzzles as he had aimed to finish, he circles the masterpieces with pride. Never wanting to destroy his handiwork he does not clean up and put away the puzzles until the end of the day. As his big sister, I know that it won’t be long before he is on the floor again dressed in another shirt and probably no pants booshing away puzzle after puzzle.