Our New Obsession

Have I told you about our obsession with Legos???

It all began when Philip turned 2. Dee (his paternal grandmother) gave him this box of Duplos for his birthday.I still contend that this may be the best gift he has ever received. We loved (and still love) that set of Duplos. We have built all sorts of things with them...however, Duplos are just a little limiting. They are big, bulky and well, just a little limited in their building capabilities...still perfect for the early pre-schooler!

At Philip's 4th birthday party, he receieved his first set of Legos.It has directions for a fire station and fire truck. It also has pictures for a house on fire, another fire truck, and a fire boat.

I was thrilled that he had moved on to the big stuff. First, understand that I loved Legos as a child. I vividly remember one birthday receiving a set and being so excited. I spent the day building all sorts of things. Philip's came at a cost though.

Daniel immediately wanted in on the action. Daniel, being 2, does two things with the legos...destroying anything that has been put together and playing with the people...taking their heads, chests, legs, hats, etc. apart and putting them back together again.

Philip and I can spend hours building all sorts of things while the younger boys sleep. Daniel wakes up, tears up what we have spent hours building, and then the frustration begins. Funny that the frustration came from me, not Philip. Philip never seemed to mind...probably because that meant he could sucker me into more one on one time building.

We reached a compromise after Christmas. See, Christmas brought three more sets...a construction trucks set, an RV, and a fire rescue helicopter/vehicle. I told the boys the Legos were going upstairs to Philip's room. I used William as the excuse. Everybody can play, but they have to stay there.

When Philip was 2, he got a train table for Christmas. It turned out to be entirely too small for the train sets that he and his father liked to build. Conveniently, it came with panels for Duplos and Legos. It is the perfect Lego table because of the panels and the lip around the edge so pieces don't fall off. It now sits in Philip's room and the boys love to play in there.

In fact, our "play porch" is quite lonely.

I think Legos are a great toy. They encourage sorting skills, following directions, and most importantly creativity. They have many sets for around $10...perfect gifts for birthday parties. They also have more expensive sets, like this one...

Philip saw it at Target this week and practically drooled over it. He knows better than to ask for it...I don't randomly buy toys for them...only birthdays and Christmas. It's a good thing he didn't ask, though, because I was secretly thinking about how much fun it would be to put together!