Welcome to our home...otherwise known as vintage toy land

When I was young, I thought that having a child would make me more responsible and adult-like (as opposed to clown-like). I thought that I would suddenly become a serious and mature adult and I wouldn't be silly or that I wouldn't like to play with kid things or toys or any of that stuff, but oh how wrong I was. Having Christian has caused me to regress (not that I had pro-gressed to begin with or anything) even further into my childhood.

I find myself being just as silly as always because I need to be to entertain Chris, but in addition to that I find myself having a brand new love affair with the world of toys. I remember when I was young my mom would take me to the local Toysrus to pick out my birthday gifts. I precisely remember putting the following in my shopping cart: a cabbage patch kid, a pound puppy, a barbie and a board game or two. Although my budget was only about $50 bucks, I felt like I was on one of those shopping sprees that kids used to win in contests back in the days.

I was always saying BUY ME THIS BUY ME THAT, but fortunately my mom didn't always get me everything I wanted. I had to put the toys I wanted on a list and hope and pray that I would get them for my birthday or for Christmas. Sometimes I would get them, and well, sometimes not. I still have fond memories of my favorite toys that I played with as a child, but I also have fond memories of the toys that I really wanted and never got.

Aha, but I'm getting a second chance now that I have Christian (and eBay). It seems that I am living vicariously through my son when it comes to toys. For instance, he is not even two and he already owns several toys that are a tad beyond his age range. They are put away for when he is older, but they are clearly toys that you would've easily found in a child's closet in 1982. For example, he has a brand new lite brite set just waiting for him to turn 4, a set of Lincoln logs that can't wait till he turns 3, a vintage little people garage that he already plays with and a vintage little people home that he completely ignores. I have as much fun (if not more) playing with the toys than he does.

I find myself buying him all the toys that I loved as a child plus all the ones that I didn't get the opportunity to love. I always wanted one of those stick ponies ("no, those are for boys"). Can you guess who's got a rocking pony? I always wanted Transformers ("no, those are for boys"); guess who's gonna get one when he's old enough (or perhaps before then if I really see one that I like)? I figure now is the only time I can do this because pretty soon he will start asking for his own favorite toys. At this point I will have to buy him the stuff that he likes and I will no longer be able to buy him the toys that I like. Hopefully, they will coincide once in a while and we can have a super soaker xtra power water gun fight or I can bust my ass have fun with him on the slip and slide, or we can make some snow cones on a Snoopy snow cone machine. Hmm...I guess the Barbie Dream home would be pushing it huh?

And then I wonder why his playroom is crowded.