Christmas Nostalgia

Hey Friend!

How are you doing? Just like that, the first week of the school holidays is over (booo!). But there’s still a week left of not setting the alarm, watching movies and eating a large amount of sugary treats (yay!). At any other time of year, I can avoid the sugar, but when yet another tub of Celebrations is given to the office, it would be rude not to eat all the Maltesers before anyone else can get to them… In fact, if my mum buys a Celebrations tub, I will also aim to eat the five Maltesers in the container because I’m not going to eat anything else. That’s fair, right?

Christmas was hosted by my brother and sister-in-law this year who cooked us a delicious feast. There were thirteen of us altogether so it was no mean feat to cook for us all and make sure everyone was looked after, all while looking gorgeous – thanks Sis xx (Thanks to my bro too of course, but we all know who did the lion share of the work!)

The rest of the week has been fairly quiet. We’ve stayed home, the children playing with their toys – and yes, that is plural because even though the girls are more likely to get jewellery and books, this year we added a touch of nostalgia.

Both Older Miss and Littler Miss loved Lego Friends before Lego decided to change things up. Instead of five female friends, each with their own interests and personalities, you now have eight characters, three of whom are male, four of the bunch are people of colour and one has a disability. You’d probably say it’s an improvement and a win for diversity as the original group had only one black character, but it just seems like overkill and political correctness gone mad. At least, that’s the girls opinion and they were the ones playing with it, but I can’t say I disagree.

Anyway, OM had always wanted Olivia’s House and LM wanted Andrea’s Theatre. I’m sure that means nothing to you if you know nothing about Lego Friends, but it was a big deal to them.

Unfortunately, those were the really pricey sets that I couldn’t justify buying, but I felt sad when they mentioned some months back how they’d always wanted them. It reminded me of the little kitchen I’d always wanted as a child but wasn’t able to get. I don’t remember who made it, but it was pink and lilac and the oven had a light that came on (state of the art stuff!). There was a sink to one side and an area to prep food. I’d look at it in the Argos catalogue every year and hope, but alas, it wasn’t to be.

It may seem a bit silly, but I just didn’t want the girls to have that ‘if only…’ thought years from now. Of course, you don’t always get what you want in life and there are probably many other things that they didn’t get, but Lego Friends was a big deal.

Both sets were discontinued because Lego, in their wisdom, scrapped all the old sets when they rebranded. Mr E scoured the internet to find both sets and we also picked up a rather fancy house for Little Dude which was better than the one he’d asked for.

The screams of joy when they opened their sets and the fun they’ve had building is a memory that will stay in my heart.

I’m sure it makes good business sense to keep making new things and re-use the old pieces in the newer sets, but what if you like the old sets? Why are people having to trawl through eBay and the like to find ‘retired’ sets and have to pay a small fortune for the privilege? Do better, Lego!!

I’m off to work on my Christmas gift – a new 1000-piece puzzle depicting the Tower of London at sunset.

Is there a toy/gift that you always wanted as a child but never received? Let me know in the comments and lets reminisce together. 😊

Speak soon x