Putting Away Childish Things

When I was a little boy, I had a whole set of Tonka Toy cars, trucks, dump trucks, tractors, and even an excavator! It seems like we always had a pile of dirt to play in, or at the very least our gravel driveway. I could play with them in the mud; I could play with them in the garage; I could play with them all day every day. One day, when I was about 12, I realized I hadn’t played with my Tonka Toys for a few years. I couldn’t believe that I had let my beloved toys nearly waste away in my toy chest. I got them all out of the big trunk in the garage and took them to the place that I had always played with them. I got down on the ground and tried my best to play with them. I realized that they just wasn’t as fun as they had been a few years ago. I even felt self-conscious about laying out in the yard playing with toys. I picked them up and put them back in the big trunk. And they stayed there until a few years ago when my mother told me to come and get them, or she’d get rid of them. They are now in a box in my attic anxiously awaiting the day I can present them to my grandson. Did the toys change? No. I did.