When My Favorite Domer was little, he spent an inordinate amount of time playing with Legos.
In his little hands, these hard plastic colored bricks became spaceships. Or villages. Or monsters. Or whatever.
A $5 box of Legos was the perfect reward for a boy eager to do his best, to help out around the house, to bring home A’s.
Bribe, you say? Hey, whatever works — as long as he picked them up, and I didn’t have to step on them with bare feet!
On summer days, or weekends during the school year, his friends would come over to design and fabricate entire Lego worlds, complete with people. And vehicles to move them from place to place.
I lost track of how many pictures I took of him with his finished creations to submit to the Lego magazine.
“What do you get for winning?” I’d ask.
And he’d show me some expensive, one-of-a-kind set that he had to have.
Sadly, he never won.
But that didn’t dampen his enthusiasm. Or stop him from dreaming and creating.
Four years ago when Domer headed off to Notre Dame, he packed up his precious creations and stored them in boxes.
It’s the end of an era, I thought, figuring maybe his kids would get some enjoyment out of them one day.
Because plastic bricks don’t go bad, do they?
I was wrong. Not about the bricks, but about the end of an era.
Because boys really never outgrow their toys, you know.
Over Christmas break, Domer got a notion to break out his Legos. To look, once again, at his creations.
To see whether they were as “cool” as they once were.
They didn’t disappoint. You think I’m kidding, right? Well, you’d be wrong. See for yourself:
Trip down Lego Memory Lane
Musings by an ND Domer's Mom 
Those are so cool!! We loved (love) legos in our house too! In fact we stopped in the Lego store yesterday—has Domer seen the architectural ones? Although I always liked the open ended sets better. Ohhh….did you ever get in trouble trying to move one of those creations and break off an interracial piece only making it worse when you tried to stick it back on?? And forget dusting them….When you step on they HURT. Guess girl Mom’s feel the pain with Barbie shoes. Domers, creations are so FUN.
I just knew Cole was a Lego-fan, too! Domer loved the Lego store at Mall of America in Minneapolis when he was a kid. I imagine playing with Legos started many a budding architect on their career path. Oh, and you’re right about the pain of stepping on one, especially in the dark! We kids were constantly reminded to put away ALL of Barbie’s accessories so Mom wouldn’t inadvertently step on hangers and such!
Legos were long, looooong after my time. But I’ll tell you what I had – American Plastic Bricks! In fact, I still have them. No one ever is going to get them away from me. I’ve gotten rid of all my dolls, my stuffed toys and my kids books, but the bricks are right where I can find them.
I’ve even thought of expanding the set with an ebay purchase. I’m a little short on jalousie windows and roofs. 😉
Those look like fun, but I never had them. My stuffed toys and kids books are a different story. I refuse to part with them, especially the books. Sadly, Mom tossed out some of my stuffed critters after I went off to college, and part of me still holds that against her, ha!
“They didn’t disappoint. You think I’m kidding, right? Well, you’d be wrong. See for yourself:”
OMG…that is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those are truly the BEST Lego creations I have EVER seen! Way to go, Domer!!!
And Debbie, please tell me he went on to college to become an architecture?
When I was a kid, I had Lego’s too, but I also had Lincoln Logs, remember those???
Thanks so much for sharing this delightful post, dear lady!
Wishing you the most excellent weekend!
X
Sorry, Ron, but Domer didn’t study architecture at college! I kind of thought he would, but I was wrong. He toyed with Engineering for all of one semester, but quickly determined he wasn’t “wired” like engineers and transferred to the business school, where he’s thrived.
These are just a fraction of the “masterpieces” he’s created, though. We have boxes and boxes of the stuff! And amazingly, he remembers details particular to all of them — like when he got them, something funny one of his friends said while they were designing, etc.
Thanks so much for visiting and humoring me!
My guy has done the same thing. Once Lego is in their blood I think it stays.
Mine would still “play” with Pokemon if he didn’t think his friends would know!
This is so sweet. It makes me want to head right to my son’s closet and pull out all of his old Legos.
Another Lego fan?? Boy, these kids are certainly defined by their toys, aren’t they? Thanks for stopping by, Pat!
Love it! Plenty of Legos in our house too. I think I most remember the sound they make when the kid is digging through the box looking for the one piece he needs. 🙂
Ah, yes, how well I remember that sound! Thanks for your visit and your thoughts. Most appreciated!
Incredible, Debbie. My grandsons are hooked on Legos ,too, spending hours on their creations. How nice you don’t have to let go of the Legos 🙂
No way would we unload his “toys,” Kathy! After he gets his own place, I’m kind of hoping they might follow him, but you never know. He might prefer they stay here — hard to move those heavy boxes around, ha! Thanks for stopping by.
Legos.
one of the greatest inventions (after lipstick) that was ever created.
Xxx
Kim, they certainly were a fabulous “baby-sitter”!! As long as he was up to his knees in Legos, I knew he was happy (and could steal a few minutes away to get my work done!). Thanks for visiting, my friend.
Those are cool! I’m glad he kept them. My brother had Legos growing up and I’d wanted to get them for my boys. Sadly, all I could find were those stupid Lego City sets where the pieces would make just one thing and you had to follow directions to make them. Well, the kids got frustrated with them and kept leaving them on the floor so I’ve gotten rid of all of them. (My dad superglued a couple of them but the kids still managed to leave pieces all over the place.)
My dad got my older son a Snap Circuit set a couple years ago and he’s loved it. He can follow the directions or invent different configurations to make an alarm, a fan or whatever he wants.
Never heard of a Snap Circuit set, Janna, but it sounds like something Domer would’ve liked. I’m sorry your experience with Legos wasn’t so good. They really are wonderful “toys” and Domer spent hours and hours with them! Do they no longer make the big buckets filled with all sorts of different colors and sizes? That would be a crying shame. Part of the draw, I think, is letting kids use their imaginations to create interesting objects.
Doing some organizing around the house today, I stumbled across two boxes of legos that were much loved in my boys’ younger days. Even though the youngest boy is 22 now, none of us could bear to part with the legos. I now look at some of those favorite toys and imagine they are waiting to be played with again by grandchildren!
Some toys never go out of style!
I think Legos are among those toys that never go out of style. I’m pretty sure they’re practically indestructible, too! It’s funny how our boys’ entire generation is defined by their toys — did yours get into Pokemon, too?!
Yes, they were into Pokemon! Just a few years ago, I gave away all their cards to a coworker’s young son. He was thrilled to have a collection of “old-fashioned” cards to go along with his newer ones.
Domer still has his Pokemon cards — he’s kind of a pack-rat, in case you were wondering, ha! If memory serves me right, he had at least one of those “gold-plated” versions that was his pride and joy!
Debbie, you bring back lego memories for me with this post. My boys and one daughter loved the Lego buildling and creating too! So nice that he pulled them out again – it’s a poignant moment to have to box up their toys, isn’t it? And speaks a lot for his tenatious spirit to keep sending the photos over the years. 🙂
I’m glad I could resurrect some wonderful memories for you, Barb! Legos just seem like the perfect toy — indestructible and utilitarian.
I’m glad your son made stuff…in my house Legos were all over the house and they found their way out of my house LOL! Legos are a great toy as they help a child’s creativity…my sons were the destroyers!. They took things apart not put them together. Thank God they are grown now and now put things together on their for a living. Did legos help their lives?….Well no but they are still a great toy for those kids who like to build.
Well, now, Tanya, I’m not totally sure Legos didn’t help their lives 😉 Any time folks are using their God-given talents and imitating their Creator by creating seems like a good thing to me! And you know, sometimes it’s by taking things apart that we figure out how to put them back together again, LOL!
Oh, Debbie, what a poignant post! I’m so glad he took out his Legos once more. I’m sure it made you feel good as much as it did him. With my daughter it’s American Girl dolls. She had a collection of three dolls and a suitcase filled with their clothes. Sadly, she hasn’t taken them out of storage. But I keep hoping!
It’s like when we go through those boxes at the back of our closet — you know, the ones filled with old movie ticket stubs and dried flowers that once meant something to us. Perhaps your daughter just needs to find herself “bored” and with too much time on her hands! At any rate, don’t throw them out just yet!!
Wow! Those are so neat!
Thanks, Tricia, he had a lot of fun seeing them once again!
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