My name is mom, and I'm a toy-aholic

Its true.  It started out innocently enough.  Just random baby toys.  Then I saw it...the twinkle in my sons eye.  He LOVED toys.  I LOVED my son, and my addiction began.

The outdoor toy collection was fabulous...every play house, slide, pool, slip-n-slide, wagon, bike, basketball hoop, soccer goal, ball...you name it we have had it.

Great toys to mimic mom and dad...toys to just enjoy with friends...

Its not till recently that we have started to give them away...the one thing we have kept...

the SANDBOX! 

This didn't stop with toddler outdoor toys....oh no, we had a vast collection of indoor toys too...

I know what your thinking...your poor husband!  He has to deal with an addict!  Don't pity him.
He is my enabler.

One day I started going through some old boxes of his childhood stuff.  Do you know what he had?  Toys!  But not just any toys...Star Wars from the 70/80's.  Yoda still in his original packaging.  He did not "play" with these toys as a child, he organized them for fun.  The Star Wars ships still with instructions and stickers!







The action figures packed neatly in Darth Vaders Head...still with the mini-guns!  We have all the characters except maybe 5 of them.  Its insane!

"My children will PLAY with these toys!" I declare...and he whole heartily agrees!  But one condition...be careful of the lead paint.  "The children can go nuts with these toys, just no eating them".  I'm good with that.

Now, my son has become an expert on all things Star Wars, and has his own massive lego Star Wars collection.  That he is very serious about.  


















Star Wars was just the beginning...Matchbox Cars...and these cars were in MINT condition.  My husband had the coolest toy collection!  My son has played with every single one of these toys...not gently, not just to "organize" them like his father did.  These cars tell stories...even now, at age 7 these cars come out and have massive battles, and story lines.  And as long as he doesn't lick them...he's good.

Lets not forget one of my first and favorite finds from my husbands childhood...the Wells Fargo Mobile Play set...that man managed to save all the little "extras"  we still have the play swords!

Your wondering why am I telling you all this..."great, Kath, your kids have a lot of toys.  Whip-de-doo".  Well, to me its a HUGE whip-de-doo.

You just saw the fabulous toys that my husbands family kept for him.  They were a part of his childhood.  Its kind of a big deal.  I have no toys from my childhood to share.  These are memories that have been kept in a box to be passed on to his son and daughter, how cool is that?  Its a reminder that not everything needs to be thrown away.  Some things are keepsakes.  That's why when I get a hard time from people for keeping mementos...I tell them they can shove it.  When my son is done with Star Wars, you bet they are being boxed up and passed on to his children.  There are some things that are worth keeping...and there are things that can be given away...I don't need to keep the playhouses, I have plenty of pictures, and I like the idea of another family enjoying snack time on the roof.

Another whip-de-doo about all this is...that my kids can have numerous creepy dolls, and outdoor toys because I thrift.  If I had to pay full price, we'd have a fraction of it.  My kids would still be happy.  They are not spoiled, they are grateful for what they have...

Hell, a box is a source of pure joy in my household...