{"id":5455,"date":"2016-10-09T18:08:27","date_gmt":"2016-10-10T00:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=5455"},"modified":"2016-10-09T18:08:27","modified_gmt":"2016-10-10T00:08:27","slug":"my-kids-are-growing-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/10\/my-kids-are-growing-up.html","title":{"rendered":"My kids are growing up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"IMG_1864\"<\/p>\n

This is it.<\/p>\n

My boys are packing up the Playmobil in the basement playroom.<\/p>\n

Sure, we\u2019ve had prior rounds of sorting through toys before, to get rid of the most babyish items, but this is the real deal. They\u2019re demoting the playmobil upstairs to the attic, to await the hands of grandchildren. \u00a0Also various toy cars, trucks, fire engines, and all manner of other toys, and the play food and play kitchen and play workbench will either meet their fate there or in a bag of donations to the thrift store, and I\u2019m not sure what\u2019s going to happen to the stuffed animal bin. \u00a0And the combine! \u00a0And the barn, which was itself bought at a thrift store when the new version was turned into an electronic \u201clearning toy\u201d monstrosity. \u00a0It came without the animals, and we ended up with a batch of animals bought separately, but the kids tended to put the Wild Animal set (elephant, giraffe, etc.) in the barn instead. \u00a0And the Red and Blue Wiggle, which will likely end up at the thrift store, and even then, I\u2019m not sure \u2014 do kids still watch and listen to the Wiggles? \u00a0Wikipedia<\/a> says that with the exception of Anthony the Blue Wiggle, it\u2019s an entirely new group.<\/p>\n

About all that\u2019s staying is Lego and board games.<\/p>\n

Of course, the Legos still do get played with quite a bit, by my youngest, anyway. \u00a0Here\u2019s his latest creation, copied after the Stone Army in Ninjago, as represented by the Stone Army minifigure.<\/p>\n

\"stone<\/p>\n

\"stone<\/p>\n

And what\u2019s going to replace the toys? \u00a0The Playstation video game console.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve also discussed packing up the picture books that still sit on the shelves in the living room; sure, again, here, we\u2019ve had rounds of weeding out, but there\u2019s still Forklifts<\/a>, that we read over and over, and then he was happy to see actual forklifts at Aldi, and Country Crossing<\/a>, as well as Henry and Mudge books, and Babar books, and countless books about trains and construction machinery.<\/p>\n

So, in principle, I think it\u2019s great that my kids are growing up. \u00a0I know full well that I\u2019ll have new worries, like college admission, then college success, then success after college, but at the same time \u2014 well, is it crazy that I\u2019m already planning on a River Cruise after the kids have left home and looking forward to travelling off-season?<\/p>\n

And yet, my youngest, my 9 year old, is definitely still my little boy. \u00a0I still tuck him in most nights, and he still says, \u201cGood night, I love you, have a good day in the morning, and have a good night,\u201d his ritual for years now. \u00a0He hangs out with me when the older boys are on their Scout outings, and I encourage him to develop his drawing skills (though it\u2019s admittedly been a while since we sat down to draw together), and he\u2019s now in the \u201cintermediate\u201d Monart <\/a>class (just started last week, so I can\u2019t show you a picture he\u2019s completed yet other than the step-by-step drawings of the Basic class). \u00a0And on the way to lunch today, he and my 13 year old debated the merits of the two protagonists of the Fablehaven series, the latest in the children\u2019s series books that he\u2019s consuming, after Harry Potter and the Rick Riordan sets \u2014 which he currently takes with him whenever there might be some downtime, even if it\u2019s a car ride.<\/p>\n

But my middle son, in 8th grade, is starting to worry about high school, and my oldest, a junior \u2014 well, he just got his first piece of mail from a college yesterday.<\/p>\n

And me? \u00a0No hot flashes yet, but that could start at any time.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is it. My boys are packing up the Playmobil in the basement playroom. Sure, we\u2019ve had prior rounds of sorting through toys before, to get rid of the most babyish items, but this is the real deal. They\u2019re demoting the playmobil upstairs to the attic, to await the hands of grandchildren. \u00a0Also various toy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":5457,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[58],"class_list":["post-5455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-family"],"yoast_head":"\nMy kids are growing up<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is it. My boys are packing up the Playmobil in the basement playroom. 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