legos...

I was going to be the mom who didn’t let their child have a pacifier, because I didn’t want him to have “nipple confusion”.

I was going to be that mom who didn’t let their kids wear cartoon t-shirts because “those are SO tacky”.  

I was NEVER going to be the mom whose child didn’t have shoes on while sitting in the shopping cart at Kroger.  OR the mom whose kid was screaming or crying in the middle of the grocery store.  

No way, not me!

My child was never going to wear cowboy boots with shorts...I mean what mother let’s their son wear that...especially in public, but also in the backyard!?

All of those things and more (that I never thought I would let happen) have happened in my four short years of being a mom.  AND IT’S OKAY!  It is just so funny to me how before we become mothers we think we’ve got it ALL figured out, until we actually become mothers and everything we ever thought or said, is literally thrown out the window!

I am not against having toys in my house, or even toys in my living room out on the coffee table...but each toy does need it’s own place of “rest” and spot to go when it isn’t being played with.  

Since R was little, I knew that Legos weren’t something that I was going to have in my house.  I wasn’t going to buy them for him and I didn’t want other people buying them for him.  That was just TOO many little bitty pieces in my house that I was going to have to be picking up...and we all know that little boys are going to leave them out!  Even if they were only being played with in his room, I just knew that the many pieces would eventually make their way throughout the entire house, causing me to step on one day and say bad words that my son will probably repeat at school.  No.  Legos were NOT going to be apart of my child’s growing up.  He could play them at his dads, or at friends house...or even KeeKee’s house but NOT my house.

As Ryder has gotten older it’s been very evident that he enjoys using his creativity to build and create things whether it’s art projects using different craft materials or putting random toys together to create unique contraptions.  I knew he would LOVE legos if he had them, but I still wasn’t down for him having them (in my house).

Well...Christmas came and he got a little travel pack of Legos.  I hid it from him for a while hoping he would forget about them but he didn’t.  I eventually told him to take them to KeeKee’s and play with them there.  So that’s what he did.  

He was obvious after watching him play with them for the very first time that Legos were something he was going to love--and actually be pretty good at.  I felt guilty as his mom and selfish for holding back on his learning experiences, creativity and fun by wanting a “clean”  or picked up house--which we all know isn’t gonna always be the case anyways with OR without Legos.  

Since then I’ve bought him a few more sets to add to his collection along with some Lego storage boxes I found at TJ Maxx.  Those suckers have helped both of us keep our sanity when it comes to keeping the Legos picked up and all in one place.

I say all this to say that as a parent, sometimes we have to let some things go and allow our kids to dream and succeed in a way we aren’t that fond of ourselves.  Just because I don’t like them or want them in my house doesn’t mean that Ryder can’t have them, grow from them, learn from them and be a more creative child because of them.

I am happy to say that I have changed my mind and the way I feel about Legos.  

As life marches on, I’m slowly learning to Never Say Never.