Kid toys

Did your parents save all your childhood toys? Maybe just their favorites? Or did they have you choose what to keep? Maybe they saved them to share with future grandchildren or to have around for children visiting their homes?

We're cleaning out closets and storage areas and trying to decide what kid stuff to keep and what to donate. Many things are easy to get rid of but we're hung up on a few sentimental things; things that bring back happy and vivid memories.

A few things sitting here waiting for our decision include:

Barbies. Just two. Dorothy and Glinda. Zoe didn't play with them much but they are cool.

Build-a-Bears and their various outfits. They weren't cheap.

Matchbox & Hotwheels cars. We collected a new 99 cent car on each visit to Safeway when Sid was a toddler. He and Zoe wore down the paint and tires on almost every one of them.

Beanie Babies! I can still picture Zoe walking around with 3 under each arm, day and night. I remember our search for the elusive unicorn in a toy shop in Canada. I remember when we gave Sid the shark Beanie Baby and we'd wrapped it in a recycled instant potato box and he cried when he thought he'd gotten potatoes for Christmas.

Zoe's American Girl doll and her fancy clothes. Zoe got her doll when she was pretty old. Rarely played with it. The doll is "gently used" and the clothes are really cute.

Micro Machines. They're in bad shape. But they are so cute. My personal favorite is the VW Bus.

Legos. So. Many. Legos.

I think there's no question about the Legos. We're keeping them. The Beanie Babies? Probably. The cars? Definitely. If I were to ask Zoe what she wanted to keep she'd tell me to toss it all. She'd regret it later, I'm sure. Sid, on the other hand, wants us to keep everything...