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School-Aged Children
2Gma
member
Your childhood toys
2Gma
member
Do you still have any of your childhood toys that you allow your children to play with? Did your parents hang onto them for you?
I have a few things: my old cabbage patch, strawberry shortcake, & barbie dolls that my mom saved and gave back to me recently for my DD to play with.
My ILs saved nearly EVERYTING from my DH's childhood. They've pulled out baby & toddler toys for their grandchildren (our 2 are the only ones) to play with as they are age appropiate. Kinda cool to see the old classics in original form but they don't want things broken and they make sure nothing leaves their house. Okay.
Well this summer my DD wanted to play with her Daddy's old tonka trucks (my FIL got them out) but my my ILs wouldn't let her because they are going to "sell them, because they are worth money" I find that odd. One being, why did they hang onto them all these years (37+) only to sell them now. And technically aren't they DH's toys, even if there were given to him as gifts from his parents?? And lastly, why not let DD enjoy them before they are sold. they are not "in the boxes" or anything as they were played with by a little boy for years before being stored. Not worth really much IMO. My IL's don't need the money. I'm not trying to claim them but just want my kids to enjoy them. I just don't get their line of thinking on this, thoughts??
DD#1 5 years DD#2 3 years
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Your childhood toys
My mom did hold onto a handful of special toys that she thought were among the best items my sister and I had as kids. She's let my kids bring a few back to our house to keep here, but they're mostly still at her house for when my kids visit my parents.
I think your MIL needs to start thinking of ti this way: she's either saving the toys because they're heirloom quality or she's saved them for the grandchildren. If they're truly heirlooms, she needs to keep them packed away until they can be sold. It's not fair to DD to have "cool toys" where she can get to them, but then constantly tell her "no!"
Before she tries to sell them, she might just check on ebay for similar toys to see if it's actually worth selling them to strangers. A pressed steel tonka dump truck sells on ebay for about $35. That's a pretty good price, but is it worth depriving a grandchild of that toy? How much does she spend on new toys for your DD?
My parents have some of our old big metal tonka trucks, and some old wooden puzzles. They keep them at their place for the kids to play with when they're over.
We also had giant tinker toys that they held on to. My sister has them now but will likely pass them down to us soon. Oh, and my parents held on to my 2XL robot. It's now in our basement play room. The kids don't really get it yet, but I love that we still have it and it works. We even have the 8-track cartridges for it! And for those that aren't familiar with 2XL, here it is:
My parents kept all of my Fisher Price Little People sets, entire Barbie collection, Legos, some games, and a few other misc toys. DD used to play with the FP Little People when she was younger and now she plays with my Barbies when she goes over to my parents. (She's not into Legos.) I LOVE watching DD play with my old toys. My mom is great about it... she lets DD play with whatever she wants. The toys do stay at her house so DD has something to play with when she's there.
I think it's crazy they won't let your DD play with the trucks. Even if they do sell them (which I don't understand either unless we're talking about trucks worth $50 or more each) I hardly doubt that your DD plays rough with her toys. They could at least let her play with them for now and sell them in a few years when she outgrows them. And, technically, I am of the mindset that they belong to your DH!