Wired: 5 Best Toys of All Time

Move aside, iPad. This stuff is the Real Deal. As a mother of three, I can vouch that these five are hands-down among the best of the best. Maybe you can fill a stocking or two with these? 🙂

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/01/the-5-best-toys-of-all-time/all/1

From an old, beloved book

“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”

“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.

“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”

“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”

“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

– The Velveteen Rabbit

A light rain from heaven

Two emails from two older women carry the grace of God to my heart. Thank You for the reminder that You are looking out for me.

Carrion

That’s Aramis’ current favourite word.

He learnt it from a book about vultures that we borrowed from the library. Up to now, his library book interest has seldom extended beyond trains, resulting in a vocabulary comprising words like ‘freight’, ‘engine’, ‘track’ and ‘coupling’. So I was surprised when he asked about birds at our last library visit. (And I have a strong suspicion I have Rovio to thank for that!)

Anyhow, he’s been practicing saying the word “carrion” for several days now – a little macabre, I know. Then this morning, right after breakfast, he reached down to the ground, smacked hard on a hapless, unsuspecting ant that was walking by, showed me his palm and said brightly, “Look Mommy, CARRION!”