I collect Star Wars action figures. And ships. And playsets. LJ is not very fond of this hobby. As a matter of fact she thinks it's a waste of time and money. She's probably right (okay, okay, you ARE right, Leslie!) . But I've been collecting the figures since I was a wee lad, and I have a closet full of them. Well, a closet and a half. Actually, there's also a large toy box full of them at the end of the hall. And that doesn't count the action figures that I have bought for each of the kids. Leslie has bought the kids a few too, as bribes, so I'm not solely to blame. Maybe 98%.
In case you are reading this blog and don't know me already (unlikely as that may be), I have four kids. Two girls and two boys, between the ages of seven and almost three. Since the Star Wars action figures come with lots of small parts that are inappropriate for young children (guns, lightsabers, capes, jetpacks and whatnot), I keep a large plastic bag full of accessories for each child in a can in my bedroom closet. These bags of accessories have been the source of many conflicts in our house, and this week was the worst.
For some reason, my boys, Benjamin and Noah, are drawn to this can of guns and lightsabers like flies to a barbecue. Several times in the past, the boys have sneaked into the room and spirited a few of the choice items out to play with, and of course, they were punished accordingly. Well, it happened again Thursday. The Benj was getting ready for bed and stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans, and lo-and-behold, he pulled out a double bladed Darth Maul lightsaber - accidentally.
"Where did that come from?" I asked naively. Without explanation, The Benj pulls handfuls of accessories from both jeans pockets. I'm talking helmets, guns, hats, capes, jackets, staffs, lightsabers, you name it. I have no idea what he was planning to do with them, as he had WAY too many of them to even realistically use. Well, of course, it was all NoahKrakatoa's fault, since he made The Benj get them out, and forced them into his pockets, no doubt. They both tried to implicate Queen Hannah as well, although she got off with just a warning since she had not taken anything from the can. So LJ blurts out, "That's it! Bring all your Star Wars stuff here. We're taking it away!" Let me tell you, there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth. I gathered up all the action figures, ships, lightsabers and playsets and put them away. I think The Benj refused to even say goodnight to Mommy that night.
Okay, so two days later, the home is still relatively calm. Even without Star Wars figures, the boys have both survived. Now, deep inside, I know that LJ is just waiting for me to slip up so she can take all my figures away and eBay them.
2 comments:
My husband has quite a Star Wars collection from his youth also. He's passed it on to our son who loves all things Star Wars. He shares them with his sister who loves Star Wars as well. She asked her grandma to make her a Princess Leah costume this year.
But, we looked it up on Ebay for my husbands brother and they don't sell much there! So you may as well keep them!
I am very amazed that the boys have not even once asked to have the toys back. I realize that Star Wars itself is not a problem, it is the sneaking and hiding that bothers me the most. As I didn't really know the best way to address it, I took away the temptation.
Gillham family--if you visit ebay now, you will find a few items for auction from yours truly. Honestly, I would never ask Karl to sell his toys. He only sells duplicates. Yes, we have more than one of lots of figures. I think that's the part that drives me insane. I can't even put my shoes in our closet. Of course, it is the smallest closet in the galaxy.
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