Little boys and their toys

When ever I think of toys.. my mind goes right to the toys of my children.

When I was pregnant for my first son, Mr. Petals drove me over to an adorable store in a tiny quaint town nearby us. It was simply called "the teddy bear shop". Inside this sweet store there were wall to wall stuffed bears, many were dressed in various flattering outfits. I remember how happy I felt to try to find the perfect crib mate for the little cub hibernating inside of me. I was drawn to one little brown bear with an humble expression, who reminded me of a bear from my childhood. He wore a simple long white cotton nightgown. I named him Emmit Bear and he was lovingly placed inside my babies crib awaiting his arrival. He was very loved for many years by my eldest son. When my second son was born, time and money were a bit tighter and a trip to the teddy bear store was an extravagance that never entered our minds! Instead on our babies first Christmas, we went to toys r us and we picked up a cute stuffed lamb for him that had a blanket sewn into one 'hand' and a pacifier sewn to the other. My middle son dragged that little white lamb everywhere he went. He couldn't fall asleep without rubbing the lambs pacifier. I can't count the number of times I threw that little guy in the washer AND had to sew that plastic nipple back on this ragged little lamb! other toys that stand out to me are my older boys ghostbuster and Ninja turtle toys and my youngest son's Thomas the tank engine trains.

An adorable toy memory that also comes to mind goes way back to my eldest sons toddlerhood. This little guy just LOVED tools! My husband was in the trades and our little guy mimicked him whenever he worked around the house. He had a play electric saw and drill. He had plastic hammers and wrenches. He would build towers of wooden blocks and use his pull string electric saw to knock it down! He knew the name of EVErY TOOL he saw and would sometimes shock ME by saying .. No mama that isn't a wrench it's a Pliers. My husband brought him home a real tool belt from the hardware store. My son never took off that little canvas tool belt! One night after a long day visiting friends, our little one was so overtired and began getting cranky and went into an unusually crazed crying fit that was so out of character for him. I vividly remember how panicky Mr. Petals and I felt, because we had never seen him like this and we weren't sure what to do! Well, Mr. Petals sat on the floor with our boy and rocked him and just quietly started naming TOOLS! In a few minutes our son was so soothed and fell asleep right there in his daddy's lap. It was one of those priceless father/son moments that moved me to tears.
We just got back from celebrating at a Mexican restaurant because That little tool loving baby turned 25 this week! I am so happy that he decided to use his brain and heart as his tools of choice and he is on his way to becoming a special ed. teacher! Thanks for listening to me travel down memory lane! After two delicious margaritas... I am a bit nostalgic and a big mush!