The Curious Power of Toys

Now that the relentless invasion of plastic crap toys is beginning to take over the front room of the house, I have been thinking a lot about toys and their power. Connor doesn't really play with us fully yet - so far our games are to chase each other and maybe rolling the ball back and forth with him. But he really loves playing with his toys, which lets face it, are nothing more than inanimate objects. So far most of his favorite toys are a collection of cooking utensils, containers filled with objects to rattle, empty boxes, and some books. But for his first birthday and Christmas, he has started to get real toys from family and friends and he absolutely loves them. It is fun to watch him play with them, and I can't imagine what his sponge of a brain makes of his current favorite the popcorn popper push toy (shown below)!

Watching Connor developing and learning about his world by playing with these toys is amazing. It also makes me think and remember about the toys from my youth. Even after all these years I still fondly remember these things, these inanimate objects. And they still have a hold over me. In my internet wanderings I came across some digitized copies of old Christmas catalogs from department stores like Sears and Montgomery Wards. Side note: if you have time, take a look at these beauties, it is really fun. Check out clothing fashions from the 70's (wow) or the toys that boys played with in the 60's (basically pages and pages of toy guns and war)!

But I am rather partial to the catalogs from the early 80's when I was an impressionable youngster. I remember flipping through most of these catalogs and painstakingly crafting my Christmas wish lists back when Santa played oversized influence in my life. A few minutes browsing allowed me to find Star Wars figures (which I still have), the best Lego set ever made (the yellow castle which is in the garage awaiting Connor's attention), even my BMX bike that I obsessively rode thousands of miles, built and rebuilt for almost 10 years before I outgrew it.

So what is the power these objects hold over us? For Connor, obviously he is just learning from everything around him - for him everything can be considered an educational toy! For me, a huge dose of nostalgia and remembered youth. These plastic objects still have power over me - me, who can be described as (to borrow a descriptive phrase from Ali) a "grown-ass man." It will be fun to see what Connor develops an attachment to - it will probably be some amazing future gizmo like a nuclear powered jet pack (which most likely, he will have to pry out of his dad's hands to play with).