A few weeks ago, an Arlington toddler woke up to a mysterious piece of paper taped to the door of his family’s home. It was the first page of a little boy’s adventures. Every day since, Adem Kadric, 2, eagerly waits to see what happens to the protagonist, aptly named Adem.
The author is upstairs neighbor Deborah Douglas, the director of collections and curator of technology for the MIT Museum. She is using social distancing and self-quarantine as an opportunity to keep her young neighbor captivated with a page-a-day story.
“I started thinking that I can’t go down and see them even though we’re only separated by 8 inches of floor, so what’s a clever way to communicate?” Douglas said. “I took out a sheet of paper and a box of crayons and started writing a story about a little boy with a magic ball.”
Douglas, a historian of technology, is using her story to connect with her neighbors — without electronics.
In the story, Adem has a magic ball: “It’s green!” the real Adem told a reporter. The ball likes to cause mischief for his boy sidekick, like the time it made Adem’s lunch disappear or when it turned itself into green peas raining down from the sky.
One day, Adem and his magic ball happened across some birdseed — and Douglas left birdseed by her neighbors’ door and watched Adem carefully dole it out in the backyard. On another day, Adem and his magic ball flew paper airplanes, which inspired real Adem to do the same.
“The idea was to tell a story but also suggest things for Adem to do,” Douglas said. “There are endless activities for a 2-year-old, and eventually we’ll hit a nap.”
Adem said the story makes him “very happy.”
“He’s usually the first one to see the page taped to the door, and he says, 'A story! A story!’” Emina Kadric, Adem’s mom, said. “We sit down and read it, and we’re obviously keeping all of the pages.”
The Kadrics moved to the neighborhood less than a year ago, and while they were friendly with Douglas and shared a few dinners together, the page-a-day story has been a bonding experience during especially difficult times.
“Adem’s not the only one who likes [the pages],” Emina said. “We all love it. Even though we’re stuck in our house, [the story] gives us something new to do.”
Douglas agrees that the project is as much for the adults as it is for their resident 2-year-old.
The story has had quite an impact on Adem, his parents said. He talks about his character’s goings-on throughout the day and shares the adventures with his grandparents during video visits.
And Adem has been paying it forward.
“Debbie inspired us to leave notes for friends down the street,” Emina said. “We don’t write stories, but we draw pictures and leave it on the door of another little boy.”