Family Life

Debbie brought down a whole bunch of toys from the attic. Daniel and Joel have played with these before, but Micah hasn’t. Of course, after a prolonged absence these toys were greeted with as much excitement and enthusiasm as if they had been brand new.

The original intent in bringing out the old toys was to give Micah something new to play with, and he was definitely impressed by the unexpected bounty. The older boys assumed that because these toys were theirs before, they were still theirs now. No matter that they (the boys) were older and had kind of grown out of them (the toys) by now. A battle for possession ensued. Micah is pretty small, compared to the other two. He gets around holding on to furniture, not yet walking, and his brothers push him aside without a thought. It’s a rough world for the baby of the family. And yet Micah stands his ground. Gets pretty annoyed at Daniel and Joel, too, lashing out with hands and voice. Toys are serious business.

It didn’t take long before we remembered why these toys had been put away in the attic. They generally fell into two categories: the toys that were so beloved by children they caused endless strife and got banned, and the toys that were so beloved by children they got on the parents’ nerves and got banned. Battery-powered devices tended to fall in both categories at the same time.

So the boys alternate between enjoying their new-found bonanza of toys, and learning life lessons in conflict management. The parents alternate between enjoying happy children, and despairing of ever having happy children. And one day the toys will be re-banned, completing their own circle of life.

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