During the holidays we sometimes drop megabucks on gifts. This past Xmas we took a hit like most other parents, but, in the midst of all the high-tech toys our girls made part of their Thanksgiving-Christmas mantra, they also insisted on something very low-profile, low-tech: the desire to chill with Legos. They literally had thousands and for Xmas they got about a thousand more.
Most intriguing to me is that my 10-year-old daughter is the one who started mentioning Legos first. She was a member of Niu Valley Middle School’s first team to compete in the Lego First Robotics tournament. They didn’t win, they didn’t advance, but they did get top prize for having the best project, which was to build a chunnel from Oahu to Maui with robots!
The next best thing to playing with Legos is getting sucked into the Lego Store at Ala Moana Shopping Center. Sure, there are awesome kits, and I’m truly tempted to buy the one that ends up being an Eiffel Tower, but it’s the wall of bricks in the back, a smorgasbord of vibrantly colored plastic, that pulled in my husband as though there were a hook in his nose.
But wait. This is about getting Legos for the girls, right? Sure. But, Dad had all kinds of advice for them as he let them fill their big potato salad containers with their choices, which he often overruled.
“Don’t get big ones, it will fill your cup too fast.”
“Here, let me get you a bunch of these tiny ones, they look like lights!”
On the sly he whispered to me: “You know, I bet they each have like 500 pieces in their cups!”
I was beginning to wonder who the Legos were for!
Months later, the Legos are still a steady source of enjoyment. Not the stepping on a part, or the vacuuming up a part, but the imaginative stories that unravel as the structures take shape. I absolutely love it. There are no limits to what they can achieve with Legos, or ANYTHING.
Lavagal 