Every so often, you can find me spending a quiet weekend day alone, and wandering the crowded aisles of antique malls. While some 20 something’s might be seeking out vintage clothes or jewelry that might be trending in the fashion world, I am hoping to stumble upon a little piece of someone’s childhood. A unique or memorable find to take home to my children. Reusing some child’s memory. It is not just the "sentimental” finds that tend to remind me of a toy I had as a child in the 80’s, but more of the age old saying, “they don’t make um like they used to”.
My children find enjoyment in their toys and then one day the excitement of it is over. The attention span of a child mixed with the overwhelming feeling of wanting the even better version, creates an endless cycle of current play toys vs. hoarding of unused toys. For me, the beauty of re-sell shops such as Greenberries, was that it gave me the opportunity to recycle a toy that my child will never miss to a birthday present they can find that glimmer of enjoyment in again. In turn, creating an opportunity for another child to benefit from our previous “memory moments” in time.
My children and I enjoy the technology of today. We play with leapfrog & laptops, iPads & iPods, but they will never hold a candle to a collection of wooden blocks, yo-yo’s or dolls whose eyes close when you lay them down. It is a vision of my mom laying out a quilt and setting out some of these toys that takes me to a simpler time. A time that I wish existed more today and tomorrow for my children’s children. If I pass down my very own “Pat the Bunny” book or my Barbie collection with handmade clothes to my children, I have given them a piece of my past that I hope they will pass to the next generation one day. Subtract more “video game screens” and insert more tangible toys. Squeak, jingle, and roll.
More and more toys that I buy for my children, I am finding out only last a few play sessions at best. Stopping by the Dollar $pot’s at my local retail shop to find a treasure that will only bring a temporary sense of happiness and just like that, it is lost and broken at the bottom of the Ikea toy basket. Where are the toys that I can find in an antique store? The kind of toys that are tried and true, solid as a rock and have stood the test of time. Electronics corrode in time, today’s plastics are full of chemicals, and how important is Dora the Explorer going to be 20 years from now?
It is my intention to show my children that we can invest in toys that they still want to play with years down the road. While I can acknowledge that to keep up with our world you have to accept change, give in at times and allow a Disney/Pixar character on a lunchbox, I still wish for my children that they will enjoy the die cast metal cars and wooden puzzles that they can have for many years or at least pass along to allow the next generation to create a memory.
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