Since my grandchildren are all in their teens, it seemed like a good idea to go through the toys I kept on hand for their visits. I couldn’t get rid of any of their beloved LEGOS. LEGOS and rubber dart guns used to occupy much of their time. A Noah’s Ark with many pairs of animals was another favorite. The late John Hinshaw gave them away at his Texaco Service Station in Holtville when my children were young. My children were thrilled to add to their collection of animals each week when we gassed up the car.
My granddaughters were never fond of dolls, but they like stuffed animals. There is barely enough room for 18-year-old Devon in her bed with all the Beanie Babies and other animals she collected over the years. Like her mother, she hangs on to things: like a flannel receiving blanket she was wrapped in as a baby. Devon also has a sheep skin on her bed that we bought daughter Mary about 35 years ago.
Granddaughter Kendall now prefers to be surrounded by live animals.
Over the years several of the marbles in the Chinese Checkers game disappeared, but I am still keeping it. My parents taught my children how to play when they stayed with them summers in Live Oak Springs.
I kept all the balls, whatever the size, if they weren’t flat. Also the Frisbees and squirt guns for future use. Anything with magnets was also kept.
The grandkids liked to while away their time putting together regular puzzles and the plastic kind. A favorite one featured the “101 Dalmatians.” There were four small puzzles, 3x3 that required pieces being moved about hither and yon. I never was able to finish them. The grandkids put them together in a few seconds.
I still have a shelf of children’s books. The simple preschool- and elementary-themed ones have been passed on to other children. I couldn’t make myself give away any of the “I SPY” books of pictures and riddles. Grandson Ben would often crawl in bed with me while clutching an “I SPY” book in the wee hours of the morning when I visited his family in South Carolina. He would make his move at 5 a.m. or 6 a.m., forgetting it was only 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. in California.
The children loved being read to. “Clifford the Dog” and “Thomas the Train,” Bible story books and anything by Doctor Seuss. They liked the many tongue-twisters in the Seuss stories.
The “Balto” book, was one of the all-time favorites. It is about a Siberian Husky sled dog that helped save many people after an outbreak of diphtheria in Nome, Alaska, in 1925. More than 20 mushers and their teams participated in the journey, with hurricane force winds, and minus 50-degree temperatures. Balto’s team traveled almost twice as far as the other teams.
In 1926, New York City put up a statue of Balto in Central Park. A few years ago my grandkids got to see the statue.
All of the kids liked playing Pokemon and building forts when they were together. They worked hard at it and wanted to eat meals in them.
They also enjoyed the very tall tree house of their South Carolina cousins. They were fearless as they flew through the air on a modified zip line when visiting there. I had to close my eyes when the little ones did that.
I miss the days when the children were easily entertained with a couple of shovels and buckets at the beach. These days they have to check their phones every few minutes. Luckily they still like to play “hide and seek” and board games.
When I put the box of children’s things curbside, it was picked up less than two minutes later. Hope some other kids are having fun with those things now.
To comment on this story click here to be directed to Facebook.
