I’m not gonna lie.
Tiny loves his computer.
He loves Roblox and Minecraft.
And he loves the iPad.
He loves Pixel Art and Soccer Kick and any game that requires him to figure out how to get liquid in a cup or how to knock down bricks by shooting a ball out of a cannon.
He loves his screen time.
We intersperse his screen time with countless games of Uno and Battleship and Sorry! and Codebreaker, and he plays soccer and has asked to play tennis and get signed up for hockey again, but make no mistake, the little dude loves his screen time.
But, recently, Tiny turned 8, and for his birthday, he received a small, Lego Minecraft building set.
He immediately wanted to put it together, and spent the entire evening doing so.
When he was finished, he showed us the result with pride and asked if he could go to Walmart the next morning and use his gift card on another Lego set.
So, the next morning, off we went and he bought another set and spent the day putting that one together and showing it off.
That night, at bedtime, he remembered that he still had a large gift card from Christmas and asked if he could use it the next day to buy a “challenging” Lego set.
So, the next morning, back to Walmart and he bought himself a large set.
For two days, he worked on that Lego set, and when he was done, he was beaming.
While we had been at Walmart, we had purchased a generic Lego set board, for him to attach all of his creations so they don’t get knocked over and ruined, and we attached everything to the board and brought it up to his room.
Thrilled and excited, he said “Do I have more gift cards?”
No, he didn’t, but I had been putting aside money for my next girl’s weekend, and suddenly realized that he hadn’t been looking at a screen for 4 days.
Hadn’t even mentioned it.
So, I said, “You don’t, but I do, so we can get one more set.”
Back to Walmart we went (thanks, Walmart!) and picked up yet another challenging set and off to work he went.
While he worked, I emailed a friend who is an incredible bargain hunter and asked her to keep her eyes open for Lego deals.
Almost immediately she wrote back with a Lego set that had been $70 and was marked down to $20. I had her grab it for me.
By the time Tiny had finished all of them, it had been almost a full week that he hadn’t even made a move toward a computer or a screen.
The kid loves his screen, but man, the kid also loves his Legos.
The problem is this:
- He loves a Lego set. He’s not yet a master builder where he feels comfortable getting a bunch of random Legos (which we have in droves from his brothers) and building something out of them. If you’ve seen the first Lego movie, he’s Emmett at the beginning of the film. He loves the building, but he’s just not to the creative level yet.
- Lego sets are mad expensive. I would love to keep this kid in Lego sets forever, simply because it’s good, constructive work. But who can possibly afford that? Baby Monkey, who is now 13 and no longer a baby, would absolutely love the Lego Death Star. But the Lego Death Star is hundreds of dollars and I’ve got a family of six to feed. Death Star ain’t happening. Dear Lego, Please make your sets more affordable. I can’t imagine it costs you that much to produce them, and I know you are selling millions of them. Help a mother out! Thanks, Love, Amy
So, I know everyone hates Legos because of the steppage factor. And yes, I’ve stepped on more than my share of Legos over the course of the past 18 years of parenting kids who love Legos.
But I also love them so much. I loved when Monkey Girl, Monkey in the Middle and Baby Monkey used to create things with their bins full of random Legos, and I love watching Tiny diligently follow the instructions to create his “masterpieces.”
But Lego…dude, you’re killing me. Make the Legos more affordable. I’ll buy them all, but only if I don’t have to mortgage my house to do so.
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