Christmas is for kids--of all ages

Christmas is for kids, but the day after is for dads, granddads and uncles. All the build-up and anticipation is past. Reindeer pellets have been cleared from rooftops and Santa's sooty footprints wiped up from the floor in front of the fireplace. Moms are off to the after-Christmas sales. And the children are out front playing with their favorite toy that Santa left them or their friends' toys they think are even cooler. That's when the toys us guys bought for kids, though really for ourselves, are left unguarded so we can play.

Recollections of my dad on the floor playing are not in abundance. But I do remember him sitting by the Christmas tree with the Red Tonka hook and ladder fire truck Santa gave me. It was Dad who knew the intricacies of the Tonka's operation—how the "bells and whistles", if you will, worked. He patiently demonstrated how to lock down the lever that raised the ladder and turned the handle that extended it. Dad may even have been the one to show me alternative play by using the ladder as a rail to launch an airplane.

Roll forward to the 80s. My nephews were very young then. Dad bought them a train that they could ride. They sat on the engine that pulled one or two other cars. I bought them additional track and spent hours laying it out in our backyard. A friend has a furniture store and I raided his dumpster for large cartons and crates to make a life-size village. Although one of my brothers and I were too large to ride the train, we'd hit the switch and watch thing slowly chug along the track, around the curves, and through the village.

A few years later I bought my nephew a really cool toy submarine. It had wheels and a motor, so it rolled along the floor, turning in wide, slow circles. The periscope rotated and it fired torpedoes. I could never understand why he rarely played with it—I loved it and played with it a lot.

Not too many Christmases ago, my oldest brother, Jack, gave my boys Hot Wheels or Matchbox Car track and accessories. It was a kit that set up an elaborate layout and town. He and I stayed up until 2 or 3 O'clock in the morning setting it up and playing. When I say playing, I mean we had both received video cameras from Santa and we used them to do stop-motion photography. We moved each car an 1/8th of an inch, as well as turned helicopter blades or radar dishes even less as we took individual frames. The result was kind of cool, and it's a Christmas memory with my older brother I really cherish.

A gentle nudge from the Ghost of Christmas-Present brings us back to today. You see, this column is actually written just before Santa makes his big run. So I have no idea what we will find under the tree. Their lists were varied, but whether it's the "realistic" Obe Wan lightsabre with sound, the Battleship Torpedo Attack game, or the Mega Lincoln Log set, rest assured I'll lurk until the guys run out with their friends on the block—and settle in for some quality playtime.

 

 

Copyright 2006 by David Falloure