My oldest child is completely, utterly, hyperbole-adverbly LEGO obsessed. Just like his father before him. And yeah, I loved LEGOs too, though as the youngest daughter in a family with four older sons, I had to make due with a motley collection of hand-me-down sets that were all missing pieces and instructions. Meanwhile, my mother-in-law has meticulously managed to hang on to a good dozen amazing vintage sets from my husband’s childhood. HE HAD ROOF TILES, YOU GUYS. I NEVER, EVER HAD ACTUAL ROOF TILES.
Since our son’s first introduction to LEGO (a small car, I think, that could also be rebuilt as a plane or helicopter), we’ve blown through several branded series and probably a small college fund’s worth of sets. Star Wars, Harry Potter, Ninjago, Cars, SpongeBob…holy God, it’s embarrassing. We just cannot stop buying the kid ALL OF THE LEGOS.
And then we pretend like we’re annoyed by ALL OF THE LEGOS, and assembling ALL OF THE LEGOS, and the inevitable crumbling and Frankenstein-like morphing of the carefully-constructed masterpieces. But of course, we actually love it. I love watching my son’s building and instruction-following skills improve with each new, more-complicated set. I love that nothing in the world holds his attention longer than the elaborate scenarios he invents, since the story usually gets derailed a good dozen times when he decides to build another prop or house or vehicle, using nothing but his imagination and a random assortment of cast-off blocks from Hagrid’s Hut and the Krusty Krab. I love seeing what he’ll build next, because I really do believe LEGOs — licensed-character sets and dubious girl offerings aside — are fundamentally good for kids’ brains and fine motor skills.
I also love that when my children wrote LEGO a letter, they promptly received a personalized, non-form-letter response from the company.
In other words, oh LEGO, you had me at “Uruk-hai Army.”
Lord of the Rings LEGO sets. That you can buy “for your kids.” Or for Father’s Day, I AM JUST SAYING, if you’re married to someone like my husband, who is pretty much dying to get his hands on a Helm’s Deep castle and/or Gollum minifigure. Everything in our entire nerdly existence has been leading up to this point. Look! You can buy the entire collection for just $352! What? Oh, like you need that grocery money this month. Pfft.
The battle for Helm's Deep is over. The battle for the contents of your wallet has just begun.
And yeah, I guess our kids will like ‘em too. Our oldest has watched (selected) bits and pieces of the LOTR movies and I’m hoping the upcoming Hobbit movies will be doable for him. (Though we’re still plodding through the Harry Potter series at a glacial pace. He insists he’s ready for Book Four and on; I’m not convinced.)
This one looks especially great for stepping on in the middle of the night on the way to the bathroom, no? MAH PRECIOUSSSS INSOLLLLLEEE.
PS. No, this post is NOT sponsored content. I get nothing from the LEGO people. I’m just…yeah. (Hangs head in consumeristic fangirl shame.)
About Amy Corbett Storch
