Several months ago our youngest granddaughter, Karla, announced that I needed to get new toys. She didn’t like to play with what I had anymore, she wanted “older” toys! I mulled it over and couldn’t come up with anything that adolescense age girls played with except expense electronic gadgets that they already had at home. So I asked her what she would like. She did not have an answer. I asked her very specifically, “Are you ready for me to get rid of the kitchen set on the front porch.” Yes, she was. But then her mom caught wind that it was going to the church yard sale. It was kindly suggested that I could move it to another room because I might have company with little girls or Karla might still like to play with it or maybe we will still have another grandchild!!!! The bottom line…it was not a good idea to part with those toys!
This is the only picture I could find of the girls playing with the kitchen set even though they spent hours and hours cooking and waitressing to all their pretend hungry customers. We spent hours and hours ordering and eating our pretend food. This is Emily when she was around 2-3 years old. She is now 13.
*****
Noah, who is all boy and almost 3-years old, overheard us talking and said, “That’s my kitchen!” I had planned to keep all the boy toys; tractors, blocks, Lincoln Logs, Legos, etc. but now he has also laid claim to the kitchen set which I have not even seen him play with!
Yesterday Lauren (who is 11) and I went through all the toys, sorting, washing, tossing, organizing and yes, we kept the kitchen set-for now. Lauren was good help and only had a few minor attachments to the dishes. All the bent and broken toys are gone and the kitchen set remains in its spot on the glassed-in front porch.
I was struck again how we treasure our past; things we did, toys we played with, pictures, the homeplace, a letter we wrote or received, and the list goes on. Somehow they are a part of who we are and who we were and they are treasures. Sometimes treasures just can’t be parted with!
Mabel D. Said:
on July 3, 2013 at 4:56 am
My granddaughters like the toys that belonged to their Mommy. I am so glad I saved them all those 20+ years. I enjoy watching them play with those things, some of which you can no longer purchase. You can always find a place to keep those memories..