Last summer I challenged a friend to a puzzle-putting-together contest. Since me and the boys I nanny do puzzles a couple times a month, I was confident that I could finish the "Starry Night" by Van Gough puzzle in four hours when it had taken this friend of mine probably a little under a month. Recently, the youngest boy and I tried to complete a 300 piece puzzle with Harry Potter print; it came with a magic decoder that revealed hidden images, only visible once the puzzle was complete. After four hours on the first day, I would say Alex and I barely put a dent in it with the completion of the outer border (the easiest part because they all have straight edges so you're positive they are on the outside.) I was pissed when I had to leave work that day because we hadn't finished and therefore couldn't get the secret messages.
Thanks to the Harry Potter puzzle that took us a little over 16 hours to complete, I have learned that I was way out of my practice when I thought I could finish a 1,000 piece puzzle in 4 hours...and maybe I shouldn't be so cocky. Thank you, Harry Potter. Even though I won't read your books, you still find ways to teach me important lessons.
