Thursday evening, 11:55 pm.
That was the moment when my son decided to take out the plastic container full of toys that had been hidden and forgotten for some years already. Five minutes before midnight! 🤐
He is seventeen, and it is clear he doesn't play with these toys anymore - but he got inspired by my cleaning activities to see his old toys again... I washed all the windows and curtains, cleaned everything in the living room and decided to level up the thing. I took out my old notebooks, language learning books and other stuff from one cabinet... the paper bin was waiting to be filled with the things I decided to throw away.
From time to time I do these decluttering things and get rid of unnecessary junk. But you know how it goes, gradually we again pile up things and then the activity has to be repeated. I am sure that it was the reason he also did the same. Take out his old treasures, select those he wants to keep and decide which ones to throw away.
That big plastic container was emptied first. Then he selected the broken ones and landed them in one big garbage bag. The good ones were placed, one by one back to the box. That is when I made the photo you saw at the beginning of the post.
I asked him to postpone the activity of placing back the toys until tomorrow (well, today). It was so late already and also I wanted to take a few photos of some of the special toys during the day.
These little lizards were very important to him. We bought the very first one from this collection in the town of Guadalest and later, we used to buy more of them making the lizard family bigger. They are heavier than soft toys as the filling is made of sand.
So they are soft but heavy at the same time.
In the photo, you see just a few but actually, there are so many cars in his collection. Although he threw away yesterday quite a number of them (the broken ones made of plastic), still the nice metallic ones will be kept. One of them is old and worn out. It was a little blue car my husband bought him in front of the hospital where we had to stay when he was small. He was crying every time my husband had to go home after the visit but the rule of the hospital was that just I could stay with him... It is a bit of a frustration to recall some of those hospital stays but this car is a reminder and it will never be dumped.
Among the vehicles, there are also trains, school buses, firefighter trucks, planes, motorcycles etc.
Figurines!
You can recognize here many of these personalities from cartoons or movies. A Smurf, Hello Kitty, The Pink Panther, Geronimo Stilton and his gang, Snoopy and Woodstock, Goofy, Sponge Bob and his friends etc.
A few animals figurines are also there, in the background. They are all of the same German brand that makes these little animals. We have three dogs, one cat, a bear and a little hedgehog. The material they are made of is not just a hollow regular plastic - they are quite heavy.
Here they can be seen better.
Like every little boy, my son also liked to play with glass marbles. He played it with his dad, at home but also in the nearby park. They could even go to a forest if they wanted to - I would not be scared that they would get lost.
Do you know why?
The next photo will give us the answer. They wouldn't get lost because they had this compass.
He got it in Terra Natura when we went there with friends and their children. I am happy my son has this little item although it reminds me of a story that didn't have a happy ending: when I was 7 or 8, we had to take to the school a compass. We didn't have any so my dad asked one of his colleagues to lend us the professional compass he had. It was all fine until someone stole it from my school bag. 😔
No, it was not a nice feeling but anyway, I was glad to see this compass.
Right now all the toys that passed the "exam" are back in their place until the next time when my young man decides to take them out and recall some memories from his childhood!
Do you keep the toys from your childhood or the toys that your children had when they were younger?
