The Little Things

I’ll admit it. I get rattled easily. Well, by some things. There are probably other things that don’t rattle me that would rattle others. Anyway.

Certain things calm me:

-Lying down (duh).
-Red wine.
-People magazine.
-Scratching my dog’s belly.
-Holding one (or both) of my children while we read books together. It's also fun to cuddle while watching TV, though that's not as P.C. sounding. Let's face it though, it's one of the rare times they're not in motion.
-Watching the kids sleep. Extra points for tiny, sweet snores.
-Drinking coffee and listening to the weekend podcast of “This American Life” on Monday -mornings while on the bus en route to work.
-Broadway Musicals, especially "A Chorus Line," and "Rent."
-Taking a walk on crisp fall day, the falling leaves fluttering around me.
-Handel's "Messiah." I could listen to it every day, year round. Just love it. It's like church and synagogue all rolled into one.
-Baking. Preferably something with chocolate or fruit in it.
-Gardening. Getting my hands dirty and standing back to see the finished product. It’s (almost) instant gratification.

And these guys.

I have them perched on the windowsill above the kitchen sink. It's the Little People I'm referring to. The little plastic horse isn't bad either.

I don’t know why, but Little People make me happy. And they make me smile. And heck no, I don't let the kids play with these guys.

Score

Is there much in life more satisfying than cleaning up (figuratively speaking) at a garage sale?

I know, I know, how thrilling! Looking at someone else's great deals.

But please, allow me to be a little excited about this:


It's the REAL Little People, People! A bit more info: the bus is wooden and the date on the bottom says 1965. Yes, be still my heart. Now the question is, let the kids play with it (and inevitably break it?) or sell it on eBay and retire with our winnings? Oh I think I've answered my own question.

I can't tell you how many memories I have of that blonde girl with the red body. And the woman in the yellow with the pony tail? Well everyone knew that was mom. And the third one on the left in the green with a pot on his head (for a hat-not sure what that's about). And next to him, isn't that Mr. Hooper, from "Sesame Street?"

When I asked the woman at the sale how much the bus was, she shrugged her shoulders and said "Fifty cents?" almost apologetically. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. And I almost felt guilty letting her selling it to me for that price. But not that guilty.

A few others:

This cradle is so sweet. It's a little hard to see, but can you make out the little design of the elephant on it? I want to say it's maybe from the '50s? It looks a little like a few things my mom showed me from her childhood. The woman who sold it to me (she looked to be in her fifties) insisted on loading it into the back of my car and told me "I just want you to know that my sister, my daughter and I all played with this." Ellie has already put it to good use, tucking in the likes of Elmo, Leo's dog and various other "babies" in the house. I'm trying not to be sexist, encouraging Leo to play with the cradle too but I have to be honest, it seems like he could care less.

Wooden puzzles! Who could forget Muppet Babies (circa early 80s?). Baby Animal's eye is missing here but I know it's somewhere in the playroom.

I had this book as a little girl and LOVED it.

Another cool looking book. Copyright 1948! Putting this one on a high shelf.

I've been wanting to get the kids an easel. This one isn't perfect but for $2 I can't complain. I'm going to have to rig something because it doesn't hold paper so easily, but the chalk board aspect is nice.

And not shown, a doll stroller, pink with strawberries. Finally, the war of the doll strollers (we only had one and it was blue and decidedly Leo's) has ended. Ellie seems to know that since it's pink it must be hers. Scary.

Christmas Leftovers

Just wanted to post a few Christmas morning photos. The House was a big hit and continues to be so. Now the kids are fighting less over the Little People Barn (which we've had for a while) since there are two "house-like" structures to play with. Good call if I do say so myself.


I love that you can see "A Christmas Story" on the television in this shot. Love the annual 24-hour marathon!


Also cool was this pop-up Dr. Seuss book that Erin got Leo (stay away Ellie, who enjoys the sport of ripping pop-ups).

Leo really understood Christmas this year. He was thrilled with the loot that "Duh Duh" (Santa) brought him. They really layed the Christmas vocabulary on thick at school. He knew "Ree" (tree) and "Ree" (wreath). He adored the Christmas tree. Every morning the first thing he wanted to do when coming downstairs was to plug the lights to the tree in. Yeah, not good. He totally figured out how to do this himself.

Back to the gifts. Another great present was a gift certificate for Beyond Play from Grandma and Grandpa, a therapeutic toy catalog (I hadn't realized I'd dropped hints for it by posting about it on my blog but I guess I had-how accidentally smart of me!) I'm going to get the Stomp Launcher for sure.

This Medical Kit was also a hit. Leo's therapist had recommended it to encourage pretend play. I was surprised that he knew exactly what to do with a stethascope. He listened to everyone's heart on Christmas morning, including Ruby the dog.

Next year I have to be better about bringing in the Hanukkah. I was a Bad Jew this year. Didn't light the menorah once! What a Lame-O. We did play dreidel a little but that hardly counts as "doing" Hanukkah. Erg.