Well, I suppose it had to happen eventually. Jake has discovered the joys of Lego. Lego Ninjago to be specific. Prior to this, our only real experience with Legos was that little kit in the blue bin that has a ton of random pieces, and really vague directions on how to make things like an awesome house with windows and a working door. I NEVER managed to make that house. In fact, I never managed to make any sort of house that actually had a roof, or windows in the right place, or a door that worked. We lost half the pieces after about a week. Did Legos shrink since I was little? I swear they used to be much bigger! Now, there are pieces that practically require an electron microscope to see!
So anyway, we were quite content to make random nonsensical things with what was left of our big blue bin for a long time. Then one day, Jake saw a commercial for Lego Ninjago. He could probably quote the whole thing for you, he has a photographic memory when it comes to commercials, including, for some weird reason, the one for Oxy-Clean. He is always telling me to order that stuff. I think he’s implying that I need some extra help with my cleaning skills or something. I ended up getting Jake these tiny little Ninjago sets for Easter, because they were on sale at Target. Legos are expensive! Seriously, they’re frustrating little plastic bricks, but I think if you were to buy enough to build a life-size house, it would cost way more than the average house on even the best seller’s market.
For a few months, those little sets were enough to hold him over, although he would stare wistfully at the display every time we went shopping. Then, one of his friends gave him a Lego Ninjago set for his birthday. It was one of the mid-sized ones. You know, the ones that take a minimum of an hour to put together, IF your child didn’t already dump the pieces out on the thick, plush carpet in the next room. I discovered that there is a reason they show a little picture of Legos dumped on the carpet with a big “X” over it. The Lego people clearly know what they’re talking about. I, of course, am not one to actually read the first part of the instructions. I prefer to skip all the warnings (they usually tell you things like “don’t assemble this toaster while it’s plugged in and you’re sitting in the bathtub!) and get right to the actual hard part. I’ve yet to electrocute myself or set anything on fire. I have a hard enough time with the actual instructions. I tend to put things on backwards on a regular basis. But I managed, and it almost came out perfect. But now he’s hooked, so for his good report card, I got him another set. The Ice Dragon Attack one pictured here.
This is where I brag about the fact that it only took me about a half an hour to put it together! Hey, I think that’s progress. I have to give Lego credit, unlike the “box o’ random Legos,” they really do provide fairly detailed step-by-step instructions for these things. My only major complaint, aside from how tiny the pieces are and how much the kits cost, is that in the picture it’s hard to tell the difference between the various shades of gray and black.
Now, you may be wondering, why on earth would my kid want Lego kits if he has NO desire to actually put them together. Well, to be honest, I’m not sure. I think it may be that he finds it amusing to torture me. Considering the way he teases me about my fear of clowns, it’s the most likely reason. Or maybe he thinks that the finished product is awesome, but he can’t be bothered with the actual creation process. In any case, I’m a total sucker for that kid, and I’ll continue buying him Lego kits and straining my eyes to find the microscopic claws, all the while shouting “is that dark gray, light gray, or black in the picture?!?”
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My kid loves Legos too but it drives me crazy when I find pieces of his “cherished” Lego sets all over the house…
Am I a horrible mom if I have tried my darndest to steer my Oldest away from Legos? Love this post! http://homesandbabies.blogspot.com
Not at all, lol! There are many things I steer Jacob away from, just because I personally don’t want to deal with it. For example, he never even heard of Barney until he started preschool, because that purple dinosaur creeps me out!
I know how it is with Lego but kids will definitely grow out of it. Nice blog. Saying hello from VB.
Wait till he discovers the Lego store where they can pick and choose the pieces. We probably have 10,000 pieces now. The boys make unbelieveable stuff. I spoke to a man who is aeronautical engineer and he swears that legos led him to his career. Oh the joy of stepping on a lego in bare feet. You are in for some joy there.
Oh my goodness, we passed by that in NYC when we went around Christmas, and I quickly steered him away so he couldn’t see! LOL! By that point, my arms were breaking with his FAO and TRU purchases, so I couldn’t handle another bag anyway. But I glanced inside the window, and wow, the bins of Legos they have in that place! Insane!
Watch out – this is only the beginning. My boys have three bookcases full of Lego creations and a closet with four bins of extras. Phew!
Visiting from VB – April
I used to love stepping on them in the middle of the night! Cute pictures! Visiting from VoiceBoks!
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My oldest usually wants Lego’s, but has to ask for lots of help putting them together. More work for us.
I’m following you back from Planet of the Apels.
My husband can’t wait for our kids to be Lego-age. I never got into it as a kid, it was always too complicated an endeavor just to take apart and do all over again. And the clean up…ugh. But we live a half hour from where the new Legoland Florida is opening this fall, so I just can’t avoid them!
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Amanda
My son is a Lego fanatic and luckily he loves building all of it himself. He’s had many happy hours creating all kinds of creative models. Must say I agree, Legos are expensive but this is the one toy that he’s been playing with for years.