When I look back on my childhood Christmases, so many amazing pressie memories float into my mind – piles of Famous Five and Secret Seven books, my first pair of roller skates, the year I got a Barbie shower that pumped actual water (yes, I was the envy of all my friends), and – perhaps above all else – Lego.
My Dad was in the New Zealand airforce, so he used to come back from his travels with boxes of the iconic plastic bricks. Back then they only came in simple sets of blue, red and yellow, with a few white and black bricks thrown in for good measure.
Oh, the fun my sister and I used to have building planes, and cars and primary-coloured mansions for our dolls.
I remember spending hours painstakingly clicking those bricks together; the ecstasy when you locked the final piece into place, the agony when a carefully constructed wall collapsed, exploding bricks across the orange and brown shag-pile carpet. Get that look off your face – it was the early eighties!
Of course modern Lego is at a whole new level, with a rainbow of colours and intricate pieces that allow you to create pretty much anything your imagination allows.
A few years ago I collected a set of Lego minis; Big Sis came across them when she was about four years old, and I grudgingly agreed she could open them. When I turned back 20 minutes later to see what kind of horrific mess she’d created, I discovered she’d actually put them all together. ‘How did you do that?’ I asked, flabbergasted. ‘I just copied the pictures,’ she shrugged.
Her Lego game is strong.
Since then, the girls have had LEGO sets every year for Christmas, and this year is no exception. There’s just something so lovely about passing down my toy traditions, and knowing my children and I will share similar memories. It’s also nice to see them playing with something that doesn’t have batteries, or flashing lights or a touchscreen.
Good old-fashioned toys, and good old-fashioned fun.
• I was asked by George at Asda to recall the toy traditions I’d love to pass to my own children. They also very kindly provided us with a Lego set to create our very own ‘heirloom toy’.
I can barely remember a time where Lego wasn’t a part of my life, I loved it as a child, I loved Techno as a teen and now as a Mum it’s everywhere in our house. I just wish they had the pretty pink Lego when I was a child!!!