Popular toys from the 1980s, all of which were still living in my parents basement!
One high light of our summer thus far was helping my parents have a major garage sale at their house. They are re-doing a lot of the house and therefore keep discovering more um...how do you say...junk? No really, actually a lot of it wasn't junk, but just incredible how much my very wonderful mother has kept. Mainly stuff from when my brother and I were kids. I am appreciative of her sentimental thoughts, but the time to go through all my toys was over due!
It was actually a lot of fun to go through and see all the toys which were dearly loved, but totally forgotten! Of course I could've recounted my favorites such as Care Bears, Cabbage Patch Kids, Barbies, Rainbow Bright, and Pound Puppies. However, there was a whole other mess of other creatures and characters. Such as the Popples, Wuzzles, and Fluppies. Any one else remember.....
JEM
Glo Worm
Hot Looks
Lady Lovely Locks
I am sure there are some others I am forgetting, it has been a few weeks since I sorted through kid-land in my parents basement. I had mixed emotions in response to this occurrence. Nostalgia of course. Remembering how exciting it was when Barbie's surf shop was finally put together or the joy that came from attaching all the strange little hair pieces to Miss Lady Lovely Locks. Gratitude was another... I had SOO much stuff! Seriously, were we at the toy store every week? Really it was probably large in part to the people who know kids toys best....Grandparents! Frustration.. why on earth did I have so many toys and why are they still here!! Those were two separate issues which I won't go into too much, but point being- so many children in this world don't even have one special toy. I was reminded of the little boy in Ethiopia who was ecstatic to get a tennis ball, the house keeper who was brought to tears when we gave her a small stuffed bear to take home to her daughter, and some of the adopted kids I work with who don't know how to play with toys because they have never seen them.
Glo Worm
Hot Looks
Lady Lovely Locks
I am sure there are some others I am forgetting, it has been a few weeks since I sorted through kid-land in my parents basement. I had mixed emotions in response to this occurrence. Nostalgia of course. Remembering how exciting it was when Barbie's surf shop was finally put together or the joy that came from attaching all the strange little hair pieces to Miss Lady Lovely Locks. Gratitude was another... I had SOO much stuff! Seriously, were we at the toy store every week? Really it was probably large in part to the people who know kids toys best....Grandparents! Frustration.. why on earth did I have so many toys and why are they still here!! Those were two separate issues which I won't go into too much, but point being- so many children in this world don't even have one special toy. I was reminded of the little boy in Ethiopia who was ecstatic to get a tennis ball, the house keeper who was brought to tears when we gave her a small stuffed bear to take home to her daughter, and some of the adopted kids I work with who don't know how to play with toys because they have never seen them.
My intention is definitely not to criticize anyone for providing their kids with a multitude of toys to enjoy! This experience was for me, a good reminder of the vast contrast of children's play experiences across the globe. This is hard when we think about how little many other children have. However, it is also a reminder of how amazing children and their imaginations are. Sticks become bats, magic swords, or animals. Games might be born from cans, rocks, or cracks in the street, and trees become secret palaces and land marks. Certainly, whether locally or globally, it is not the toy that is responsible for the well being of the child.
We are not parents yet, I am sure we will be some day (no... we are not pregnant, because I am sure that was going through a lot of your heads...). When that time does come, I am sure it will be very hard to not get caught up with all the latest toys and trinkets little Jonny Jr. is begging for. And I am sure I will be equally excited about some of the funny little creatures that I presently pass up whille roaming through Target. I do hope though, that I will keep perspective and balance in mind. For those of you who are parents, I wonder how this experience has been for you?
4 comments:
how fun to see all your old "stuff." you were a lucky kid. :) double check with antique road show, maybe one of those toys is worth a million dollars?
i think you can get a feel for how you will be as parents with the "toys per kid" ratio by looking at your "puggle to chew toy" ratio.
hahahaha, mr. puggle has his own little toy chest of chew toys. we rotate them in and out to keep um' fresh. at 8 pm every night he pulls out his tire and goes crazy with it. we just can't figure it out. how can he tell time? one of these days i will put it on the blog.
Yea! Wuzzles and Glo Worm! My favorites. :)
Wendy
oh, I miss my hot pink popples that I really thought... if I cut off the tail it would grow back. It didn't grow back. So I had a popples with no tail that i loved regardless
I've had lots of similar thoughts about the amount of commercial toys that kids have. It seems like one of those luxuries that can have hidden costs. I think too many toys can sometimes be detrimental. When we have less pre-fab toys, we are challenged to invent, create and imagine. While kids do this naturally, too many toys with pre-determined story lines can fill the time and prevent them from getting to that point where they develop these great skills. Its harder work as a parent to endure a little whining and frequently take time to show kids how to play wherever they are... with sticks or tupperware or brochures. But when we do this I think we give them tools that will serve them their whole life long. We show them that things don't make us happy, play makes us happy.
This summer Nathan's been asking about roller skates and he invented different versions of homemade skates for about a month before we got the real ones. I was so impressed with the fun he had putting spoons inside mom's socks and sliding around. While he is really excited about the skates, I did have some moments of wondering if the spoons in socks were actually more fun.
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