Everything Old is New Again

I have very fond memories of visiting my grandparents during the summer. Their houses both seemed so exotic to me as a Southern Californian, because they had basements (no one in So Cal has a basement). And basements, as I now know, are a terrific place to store stuff, including toys from days gone by. I discovered books that my parents read as children, toys that either they or my aunts and uncles cherished, and of course countless ensembles of dress-up gear.

I see a similar pattern with Clare and Danny here in Buffalo. My in-laws have lived in the same house since Tim was 12 or so, and they wisely stored away the good stuff: Legos and Playmobil sets, Cabbage Patch and Strawberry Shortcake dolls (the first generations), etc. Most of this bounty has a home in the basement and is brought upstairs when the kiddos arrive. Today, being a rainy day, the kids ventured down to the basement and discovered a few more treasures. Including this old school desk that could not have fit more perfectly into Clare's mode today, which started out as an imitation of Kit Kittredge (American Girl and aspiring journalist) and then morphed into author:


Clare wrote more stories today than she has in her six years thus far, and her enthusiasm for it was awesome to behold. She didn't just write stories, but developed entire publishing genres for them. There was the "Red Sketch" series, which were short books with the word "red" predictably in the title. She then went off to write a story for my mother-in-law's friend Jean, whose birthday we'll be celebrating tomorrow at the beach in Canada. When she came downstairs with the finished story, she said, "See the fireworks on the cover? That means it's a Little Fireworks story, which are longer stories for more advanced readers." Which, of course, it was - four pages to the single page of the previously penned Red Pony (which she wrote for Danny, who ungraciously tossed it across the room upon wakening from his nap. He really can be an ass.) Between writing and reading with me on my bed, she happily passed the entire day.

Danny, for his part, has fallen in love with Aunt Karen's old horse riding set, and this evening discovered Tim's old cowboy and knight Playmobil set (which also prominently features horses). He focused intently on these items for a good 45 minutes and had to be dragged to bed, crying much of the way.


So I don't know if the satisfaction today comes more from how well we passed a rainy day at home (it's been so long since I had a rainy day that I truly relished every moment), or from watching my children get excited about things that I used to get excited about as a kid. Either way, it was a good one.