I enjoyed this, Regina. I wasn't sure I had it in me to watch a hour-long YouTube-cast, but your most recent post suggested a way. We inherited from my mother years ago a beautiful silver tray and bowl. I had never polished it. So, I took your January advice, and while listening to you and Alicia and Mike, I bit the bullet and rubbed off tarnish like some Aladdin. About the polishing, you'll hear more later.
I made a few notes as you went. Funny, what good topics toys make!
First impression - Alicia first, then Mike and Alicia - simply BEAMING` at you - from the get-go, and on throughout. Their interest in your thoughts accelerated mine. Great podcast. I've bookmarked it. My wife doesn't much like the podcasts I occasionally play on our long drives home from church in order to stay awake on mountain roads. But she will like "The Messy Family"!
In the same vein, but dawning more slowly, the unselfconscious gift all three of you have for clear, direct, spoken English. Somebody taught you kids well!
So. Let's whup through a short list of salient points, with thumbnail comments:
* Hand-built, wooden doll houses. Yes!
* Making gifts by hand. Who'd a thought?!
* "Open-ended" toys like wooden blocks. Yes, and yes again!
* Knights, swords, shields, forts - especially for boys. Oh, yeah!
* No noise-making toys. What? You can do that? Wish I'd known!
* Something to want - to need - to wear - to read. Your sister is brilliant.
Now, a few longer comments:
* "Go play with dirt." This was Mike's line, half serious, half joking. We occasionally had a dirt pile in my growing-up home, and there was no better place to dig, to tunnel, to build, to move toy trucks and soldiers. The whole neighborhood loved our dirt piles. I remember creating adobe Indian dwellings in one. (Even got in a fist fight with a playmate over it. Later, asked my mother, "Which is it, Mom? 'Ada bob' or 'ada doughb'?" Turned out to be "adobe.")
Barbie. . . . Regina, your fierce take on the Barbie movie reminded me of Ben Shapiro's, which I adopted as my own. I haven't seen the movie, and won't. But my wife and daughter absolutely loved it. I laugh now, was willing to argue then (but wisely did not). I enjoyed watching you verge on a rant about it.
Your household rule about not pointing toy guns at each other happens to coincide with Jeff Cooper's second rule of safe firearms handling: "Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy." Good household rule. Good practice to grow up into.
"No other culture has Knights." Not quite, I think. That's part of the appeal of martial arts - mutual respect, formality, fighting to protect. Quietly, I think it is also an element in law enforcement. Quietly as well in some militaries, though many of them have Christian histories.
American Girl. I think you were the one who mentioned it. We acquired all the books, one series at a time, read all the stories, and purchased each doll when we finished its series. I have nothing but good to say about them. Our favs were probably Kaya (Nez Perce) and Josefina (Santa Fe).
I really liked your report from one of your great toy cleanups of one child saying, "I want to save this for my own children." Toys as family threads, heirlooms.
Whew! I did it. Watched the whole thing. Here's hoping you won't do a long YouTube post again until it's time to polish silver again. Stand by for my silver-polishing comments!
Thank you for this, Regina! Hellos to Alicia and Mike!
I enjoyed this, Regina. I wasn't sure I had it in me to watch a hour-long YouTube-cast, but your most recent post suggested a way. We inherited from my mother years ago a beautiful silver tray and bowl. I had never polished it. So, I took your January advice, and while listening to you and Alicia and Mike, I bit the bullet and rubbed off tarnish like some Aladdin. About the polishing, you'll hear more later.
I made a few notes as you went. Funny, what good topics toys make!
First impression - Alicia first, then Mike and Alicia - simply BEAMING` at you - from the get-go, and on throughout. Their interest in your thoughts accelerated mine. Great podcast. I've bookmarked it. My wife doesn't much like the podcasts I occasionally play on our long drives home from church in order to stay awake on mountain roads. But she will like "The Messy Family"!
In the same vein, but dawning more slowly, the unselfconscious gift all three of you have for clear, direct, spoken English. Somebody taught you kids well!
So. Let's whup through a short list of salient points, with thumbnail comments:
* Hand-built, wooden doll houses. Yes!
* Making gifts by hand. Who'd a thought?!
* "Open-ended" toys like wooden blocks. Yes, and yes again!
* Knights, swords, shields, forts - especially for boys. Oh, yeah!
* No noise-making toys. What? You can do that? Wish I'd known!
* Something to want - to need - to wear - to read. Your sister is brilliant.
Now, a few longer comments:
* "Go play with dirt." This was Mike's line, half serious, half joking. We occasionally had a dirt pile in my growing-up home, and there was no better place to dig, to tunnel, to build, to move toy trucks and soldiers. The whole neighborhood loved our dirt piles. I remember creating adobe Indian dwellings in one. (Even got in a fist fight with a playmate over it. Later, asked my mother, "Which is it, Mom? 'Ada bob' or 'ada doughb'?" Turned out to be "adobe.")
Barbie. . . . Regina, your fierce take on the Barbie movie reminded me of Ben Shapiro's, which I adopted as my own. I haven't seen the movie, and won't. But my wife and daughter absolutely loved it. I laugh now, was willing to argue then (but wisely did not). I enjoyed watching you verge on a rant about it.
Your household rule about not pointing toy guns at each other happens to coincide with Jeff Cooper's second rule of safe firearms handling: "Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy." Good household rule. Good practice to grow up into.
"No other culture has Knights." Not quite, I think. That's part of the appeal of martial arts - mutual respect, formality, fighting to protect. Quietly, I think it is also an element in law enforcement. Quietly as well in some militaries, though many of them have Christian histories.
American Girl. I think you were the one who mentioned it. We acquired all the books, one series at a time, read all the stories, and purchased each doll when we finished its series. I have nothing but good to say about them. Our favs were probably Kaya (Nez Perce) and Josefina (Santa Fe).
I really liked your report from one of your great toy cleanups of one child saying, "I want to save this for my own children." Toys as family threads, heirlooms.
Whew! I did it. Watched the whole thing. Here's hoping you won't do a long YouTube post again until it's time to polish silver again. Stand by for my silver-polishing comments!
Thank you for this, Regina! Hellos to Alicia and Mike!