Five-year-old Oliver received a Lego set for Christmas, his first with the small kind of Lego blocks easing him out of the Duplo set.
It was not the set he had in his mind, if he had any at all, but he did share it was not for him. Then, he continued the flurry of ripping off wrapping paper off other gifts and moved on.
I mention it because a few days later, he took the box to the two seat table in the family room and opened it. He opened the bags of tiny Legos and set the instructions right in front of him.
Then, it was just quiet as he concentrated, building step by step and looking for all the tiny pieces. Once in a while there would be a toddler noise of unhappiness – a piece not coming off or unable to find a piece. But he was focused.
It’s like when Oliver sits down and does…really anything. He loves doing puzzles. He has recently really gotten into workbooks and coloring books. Maybe his interest in coloring books is thanks to the fact that I carry a small set for each of the boys just in case I need to keep them busy.
But Oliver has really gotten into Legos because big brother, Jonathan, is into Legos. Jonathan got quite a few sets for birthday and Christmas, since they are in the same month. He received some Minecraft and Harry Potter sets.
Jonathan has really gotten into Harry Potter within the last year. He wanted to be Harry Potter for Halloween and started talking about it six months prior to the holiday. He is Harry Potter focused. I have to keep an eye on my Harry Potter items.
It’s nice both boys are into Legos right now. Yes, sometimes there is fighting over pieces. But they can create something new every time. It breaks? They can rebuild it.
I was never into Legos. I was a Barbie girl, pure Barbie girl. So luckily Mike was into Legos so the boys have been discovering the Legos he had during his childhood in totes in the basement.
I have three Lego sets, a few Scooby Doo sets and Peter Pan set, oh yes with the anniversary of Disney’s Peter Pan, I definitely had my eyes on the Wendy Darling items. It’s rare to find anything with my namesake.
So the boys have asked why haven’t I put together the Peter Pan set. And, as recently as Saturday, they have seen the Scooby Doo Mansion Lego set and attempted to get it out of the cabinet. It won’t be long now until they get it out.

A bag of Starbursts candy, a Frozen Coke and a movie ticket were on my mind last week.
The candy and the Frozen Coke was a staple on Sundays with my dad when I was in my early years of high school.
While most people were at church, my dad and I were at an early showing at the National Amusements movie theater in Auburn Hills.
Life shifted when my parents divorced the summer before my freshman year. It was bittersweet but I had time with my dad.
I would aim to pick a movie with comedy and or action movies and those Sundays lasted at least until I started college when we changed the routine a little bit.
But, how dad was doing in the movie was an indicator on if the movie was good or not. The nap review you could say – did he fall asleep or not. There are a few movies I remember not only sleeping, but snoring.
Sadly, I can’t think of the movies.
Though, I can remember one movie he stayed awake the whole time for and laughed throughout.
Now decades later, I understand. We took the boys to see “Paw Patrol: Mighty Pups” and it just wasn’t the same as watching “Speed,” “Twister,” or “Empire Records” with dad. I didn’t nod off, I caught myself a few times and would glance over to Oliver to see if he was enjoying it.
The trip down movie memory lane was sparked by last week marked eight years since my dad passed away. I mentally planned to do something for dad since it day fell on a day I usually take off from work – go to an early movie, start those memory pages.
As in life, plans shift. The dryer quit heating up so I made plans to dry clothes. But the morning of, I just didn’t feel well. I needed to do something I have been telling all my friends to do – slow down, take a moment for yourself.
Even when I was sick in January, darn cough and upper respiratory infection, I didn’t really slow down.
So I slowed down. I stopped. I napped for 90 minutes in the recliner. Then, I moved into the other room and watched “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” because when the boys are home, they sense when I am watching a show that isn’t their kind of show and be right there with the look of why aren’t you watching something more interesting and in cartoon form.
Looking back, a nap and watching a show probably would have been a perfect day for dad. He would nap in his favorite recliner and watch his favorite shows, so it worked out.