When I was a kid, I did not have an outrageous amount of toys that most kids have now, and even if I did I probably would not have played with them. I used to pick a few favorites, and use the same ones over and over again. Growing up, I considered myself as having something better than a toy. I have a cousin that I grew up with. Her and I were so close and we did everything together. Even today, she remains one of my best friends. Whenever we were together, we did not need any toys. We always found ways to entertain ourselves with our little games we would play. When I think back to my childhood, 95% of my memories included her in them. The other 5% was my sister, she was older than I was and when I was a kid she was ‘too cool’ to be seen with her annoying little sister. I remember wanting to be with her all the time and her getting so annoyed. My cousin and I would play games we made up with our own imaginations and create little stories every time we played. Looking back, we could have written books and books with the ideas of the scenarios that we ‘played out’. One of my favorite memories is of us at Home Depot. That is where all the good ideas came. We used to follow our fathers around the store, or sometimes get lost (when we were little Home Depot was HUGE to us). Our fathers were always going to Home Depot because her dad is a carpenter and mine likes to tag along and pretend he knows how to fix things. As we got older, it became pet shops that our fathers were obsessed with. Obsession after obsession we would loyally follow our fathers around like it was the best thing to do with our time. In the summers, we practically lived in the same house, our families too, staying late to play poker while we swam in the pool. It was truly the best memories I have.
However if I had to pick a favorite toy we had, sometimes we would get tired and settle down. Our favorite toys to play with were Barbies (cliché?) and when Bratz dolls came out, they took over. We used to use our little ‘stories’ and act them out through our dolls. We had kitchen accessories, rooms, cars, etc. A whole life for these dolls that would entertain us for hours. I think the dolls were so special because we got to spend time together. We also loved to play with baby dolls. I always used the same one because her skin was really soft and she was really tiny. I remember the day I bought it (at K-mart). I also had a Kelly Doll with was the size of a toddler. Now when I look at that doll, I get creeped out, but back then I used to pretend it was my child. When the doll phase was happening I’d say I was about 9 years old. I still have all my dolls and Barbies, etc. in a huge closet in my basement. I suppose those will need to be thrown out eventually, but I couldn’t part with them when I got older.
All in all I really owe my childhood to my cousin because without her it would have been 100% different and I would not have some of the best memories.
Recent Comments