my childhood books and toys...

Calypso1977

so H and i are rapidly approaching crap-or-get-off-the-pot time in terms of having kids.

my sister is significantly older than me.  her oldest is already 15.  when she had her kids, my mom gave her all of the books she had enjoyed as a child so that she could share tehm with her kids.  well, many of these were my faves too, since i was the youngest and "inherited" them all.  afew toys were in this mix as well, but it was mostly books.

i know i can buy new ones if/when we have a kid.  but i'm sad that everything was given to my sister.  sure, i could have spoken up at the time, but i was all of 18/19 when my nephews were born and i wasnt really forward thinking.  i could ask for the stuff back but obviously those are now the items her kids grew up with, and i'm sure will want to pass on to their kids.  also, her kids are kinda rough on stuff, i'm not even sure what shape the items are in now.

so anyone else out there in this boat?  i know i can start new faves with my kid if we have one, and its certainly not the end of the world, but i'm kinda sad.

crfische

My issue is a bit opposite in that my mom saved EVERYTHING I ever did played with or wore, and I know if we have kids, that she'll be bringing them up promptly. Aside from a few of the outfits and dolls, I don't want it.

But my mom also separated all of our stuff into different bins so we would each have the stuff that was most important to us.

In a nutshell, I'm staying with my useless label, and will just tell you I'm sorry. That's too bad.

Beachy730

That does suck that your kids won't get them if its so important to you.

I don't think there are any toys left from when we were kids.  My mom is notorious for throwing things that didn't get used.  And while I was the younger of her 2 kids, we were the oldest of almost 20 grandkids.  When we outgrew something it was passed down to a cousin, or was sent to my grandparents house for their toy collection.  So I have nothing to pass down, but honestly that doesn't bother me.

If its any consolation, many of the old-school toys and books are being sold again in stores.  I've bough some for my Godson, and I'll probably just buy some of those for my future kids.

Stackeye210

I don't really remember toys that I was in love with as a child that my parents kept around......I do remember visiting my grandparents on holidays and playing with the ancient toys there, which they still have and the great grandkids play with them now.  I love watching the new generation getting a kick out of toys I loved when visiting, so I guess what I'm saying is I can totally understand why you'd be sort of sad over it and why it means so much to you. 

LD1970

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_childhood-books-toys?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:3cc00c0f-2ab1-4212-9423-17a68e45243aPost:0b3af8c5-e885-491f-ab05-ccb339c44237">my childhood books and toys...</a>:
[QUOTE]so H and i are rapidly approaching crap-or-get-off-the-pot time in terms of having kids. my sister is significantly older than me.  her oldest is already 15.  when she had her kids, my mom gave her all of the books she had enjoyed as a child so that she could share tehm with her kids.  well, many of these were my faves too, since i was the youngest and "inherited" them all.  afew toys were in this mix as well, but it was mostly books. i know i can buy new ones if/when we have a kid.  but i'm sad that everything was given to my sister.  sure, i could have spoken up at the time, but i was all of 18/19 when my nephews were born and i wasnt really forward thinking.  i could ask for the stuff back but obviously those are now the items her kids grew up with, and i'm sure will want to pass on to their kids.  also, her kids are kinda rough on stuff, i'm not even sure what shape the items are in now. so anyone else out there in this boat?  i know i can start new faves with my kid if we have one, and its certainly not the end of the world, but i'm kinda sad.
Posted by Calypso1977[/QUOTE]
I'm sad my mom gave all of my stuff to my sis for my nephew even though I don't plan to have kids.  I'm REALLY sentimental.  And there were some really good antique books in that mix.  Guess I should've taken them with me when I moved out if I wanted them.<div>
</div><div>Meanwhile, I'm just suppressing the twinge and am happy that my nephew gets to enjoy them now.  Plus I watch him, so I can read them to him anyway!</div>

georgia_bride09

My parents moved a lot, thus purging everything along the way.

My kids will pretty much start with a clean slate. They'll get all new stuff.

sister2groom

I can understand feeling a little pain about seeing them get beat up. My parents taught us to love all these classic books and that's really special cause that is our family's "thing". I started freaking out about what would happen to all the books when my brother went off to college and took a whole series with him.

However, at the end of the day my parents always taught us to read books to death. If we wanted to scribble things in the margins cause that would enhance the reading of it, we were not to worry about the "value" of the book. I wouldn't have been able to enjoy those stories as much if I hadn't had permission to bring the books on carrides and expose them to spilled snacks and occasionally being jammed behind the seat. Basically, a lot of toys/books we loved with abandon as kids, I mean not having to be responsible with things of great value is part of being a kid.

LD1970

Wow, a friend of mine in 8th grade once wrote in one of my books when I was out of the room.  I wanted to kill her.  And was no longer her friend.

ootmother2

I've saved everything in M's room.  I wanted all of her things in give  in good condtion to her children.

They have been taking things to Boston, little by little.  Here rocking horse and big stuffed bears were the first things to be moved.  They will take some each visit until I make make my move back north.

I didn't save things like the fisher price toys because they change every year or they are recalled.  They are also hard to clean.

Books?  a couple hundred starting with The Christmas Story.

alainn15

I didn't have anything from my childhood because it was all destroyed. I picked things up for my daughter as I went along. Any time I would see a toy or book that was similar to what I had, I would buy it for her. She now has a full collection of  random toys, some from tv shows she never heard of, that sit in a toy box and never get played with. I always thought my child would want to play with what I played with, boy was I wrong.

The books I replaced one by one from yard sales, half priced books, and other random sales. Those she actually liked, and we did read a lot. I do wish I had some of the originals to pass on tho.

arbolita

Luke got a lot of the books that were sharing between me and my sister, with the intention that when he was done with them, they would come back to me. Then they all got destroyed in her house fire.  So yeah.  I'm pretty upset that they're gone for good and I don't get to enjoy them again, much less my kids.

ootmother2

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_childhood-books-toys?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:3cc00c0f-2ab1-4212-9423-17a68e45243aPost:f83ffd91-08fc-495b-b0c5-58f23c66438c">Re: my childhood books and toys...</a>:
[QUOTE]I didn't have anything from my childhood because it was all destroyed. I picked things up for my daughter as I went along. Any time I would see a toy or book that was similar to what I had, I would buy it for her. She now has a full collection of  random toys, some from tv shows she never heard of, that sit in a toy box and never get played with. I always thought my child would want to play with what I played with, boy was I wrong. The books I replaced one by one from yard sales, half priced books, and other random sales. Those she actually liked, and we did read a lot. I do wish I had some of the originals to pass on tho.
Posted by alainn15[/QUOTE]

Good job!

Now I remember picking up a set of Nancy Drew and Little House ( I had every single one!) at a second hand book store.  My father's second wife tossed my original set along with my portrait.

What can you do?