Why I Love Legos.

This may come of great surprise to those of you who know me, but I love Legos. Adore them. Quite possibly rate them as one of the top ten twentieth century inventions. In theory, I should hate Legos. I am a grinch; I hate Polly Pockets. All of the teeny tiny litte shoes and shirts and hats for the dolls get cheerfully vacumned up on a weekly basis. Birthday party goody bags rarely make it into my house; I shamelessly bribe my children with lollipops to surrender their bags of plastic whistles, and kazoos, and mini-pinball machines from birthday parties. Do you get the idea? Okay, I confess; I am not really that mean. I do not confiscate birthday goody bags the day of a party. But you can be pretty darn sure it won't last the week in my house once the kids are out the door for school. I despise clutter. It makes my brain crazy. I literally cannot think with too many things in my house, or too many patterns for that matter. New friends who enter my house for the first time say "Oh. It's so..." And here my new friend will pause, searching for the right word. Empty is not the right word; I have plenty of furniture and things to fill space. And while my house is roomy, that t isn't the right word either, my house is not small, but it certainly is not of mansion proportions. My taste leans towards contemporary, but I am not of the modern ilk; I value coziness and texture far too much to cross the line to modernism. And so the word they usually settle on is "uncluttered." I like the finished look vases, and candles, and numerous prints on the walls give other houses; but not in mine. I am never 100% sure if people find my lack of knick-knacks unsettling, or if the simplicity of my shelves and furniture is as soothing as them as it is to me.

So now you may begin to see, how peculiar it is, that someone who shudders at the thought of knick-knacks in my house could love legos. But there's just something about Legos that makes me happy. It starts with the batteries. Are you thinking "huh? what batteries?" Exactly my point. Next, we move to commercials. When was the last time you were cooking dinner and your kids screamed "Mommmm, come quick, I HAVE to have Legos!!!" It doesn't happen. At least not in my household. That's because you see very few (if any) Lego commercials. Brilliance does not need to advertise on T.V. As a general rule, the more captivating a commercial for a toy on T.V., the less your child will play with the actual toy after receiving the toy. Another reason to love Legos; they are a multi-dimensional toy. Now, if you throw out all the developmental gobbledy-gook about why multi-dimensional toys are highly desirable (namely that they encourage creativity and fine motor skills), it is still a good thing for parents. Why? Because in the real world, multi-dimensional means you get actual value for your money. The more time your children spend creating a Lego world means more time to cook dinner without playing twenty questions, and parents experience the pleasure of their children using a toy more than once. In fact, not just once, but for hours at a time. Who else has a carful of toys they've donated to Goodwill because your child only played with it once or twice until becoming "bored"? Encouraging creativity, plus enhancing fine motor skills, plus value for your dollar makes Legos a big winner in my book. And trust me, for me to cheerfully feel the stab of yet another small Lego piece in my foot at 6:30 in the morning as I stumble towards the coffee-maker, I must really feel good about Legos. Will you be surprised if I start waxing poetic about Lego teamwork building? Any toy that can get a 3 1/2 year old and 6 year old to work together is pretty darn good. People (young and old) just can't resist joining in once someone starts building a monster Lego house. It doesn't matter if your child is a princess type or sports type or bookworm, Legos are the great unifier. I'm definitely sending a box to Barack Obama as an inauguration present. Perhaps I should send a couple boxes to U.N. headquarters before their next meeting. We might finally have a real shot at world peace.